Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch
by mony2208
Summary: In the past decade, the indications have been that wizardkind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars … In Harry Potter’s 6th year will this ‘brief calm’ end & the 2nd war finally begin? Ootp spoilers
1. Heavenly Awakenings

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.****

**Forewords:** Yes yes I know, the title is _sooo _original, but I just couldn't come up with anything in the spur of the moment, and I thought this would be my version of the 6th book … obviously. This is my first story depicting Harry Potter and his life so please bear with me. It will improve … I hope. I'm also very, very sorry for starting another story, especially seeing as I haven't even gone halfway through my other story. I just got a few ideas in my head about the sixth book and I thought if I wrote something, I might as well post it up for others to read. I don't know if I will continue this for a while though. 'Diametrically Opposed' is taking up quite a bit of time.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter One**

_Heavenly awakenings_

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"BOY, KEEP YOUR RUDDY BIRD QUIET! IF THAT OWL WAKES THOSE NEIGHBOURS… !"

The 'boy' - otherwise known as Harry Potter - woke to the usual sounds at his relative's house, number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey; his Uncle Vernon screaming at him from the bottom of the stairs and his Aunt Petunia busy cooing over Harry's cousin, Dudley, who was wailing childishly in return, because he wanted more bacon.

"I'd say they were already awake from the sound of your bellowing," grunted Harry as he climbed out of bed, not bothering to brush his untidy mop of raven black hair. He knew it would irk the Dursleys by looking so dishevelled, but he was no longer worried about being punished after the little talk his relatives had had with his friends at the end of school.

In fact, he was no longer worried about many things - not even the fact that the owl in question was really hooting in his room. This in itself is quite unusual, but you see, Harry Potter _is_ unusual. At the moment he may seem to be an average boy, living in a slightly less than average home. But don't let appearances deceive you. Underneath all those baggy clothes and broken glasses (yet again), his life was drastically different than the rest of the occupants in this house, and neighbourhood, as well. This unusualness wasn't the Dursleys' horrible treatment towards Harry, but the reason _for_ it.

It is this reason that is quite peculiar. It is, in fact, because Harry is a wizard; an abnormal freak in the Dursleys' eyes.

For eleven years, they had hidden Harry's true heritage from him, hoping to stomp out what they called 'abnormal behaviour'. But finding out the truth proved to be inevitable for the Dursleys. Harry Potter belonged to and would _always_ belong to a world filled with magic and wizards and witches. After being the only survivor from the Killing Curse - with only a lightning shape scar to show for it - and supposedly killing the Dark Lord Voldemort at the age of one, the name 'Harry Potter' was an icon; a household name in the wizarding world. He himself only found all this out in his first year when he turned eleven years old. Since then, he has attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, just like his mother and father before him, and was to be entering his sixth year at the end of this summer.

Unfortunately his life hasn't been all that cheery; far from it. Every year at Hogwarts, something always (not altogether good) seemed to happen to Harry, but it wasn't until the end of the last term that Harry had lost the most important thing in his life - his godfather, Sirius Black.

Death always occurred around Harry. His parents had been murdered trying to save him at the age of one, the same incident that had made Harry famous, and then in his fourth year, Voldemort had killed another student called Cedric Diggory as well. It was the last death, however, that had stung the most. Harry had never known his parents, and hadn't exactly been close friends with Cedric either, but Sirius was the one person in the whole world that he was especially close to. Losing Sirius had been the most painful thing to bear through the past few weeks and what made it even worse was Harry's ongoing guilt of being the one who had foolishly caused it to happen.

Harry sighed, shaking his head fiercely as though to rid himself of all those morbid thoughts. His nightmares were enough to handle without having to think about this all day as well.

It was these nightmares that troubled Harry the most. Almost every night for the past week, Harry found himself reliving his most horrible and heart-breaking memories. Harry had lost count of the times that he had seen Sirius' murder - the once handsome face betraying nothing but slight shock as he fell through the veil, the one who only moments before was laughing and mocking Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry involuntarily clenched his fists at the mention of her name. How many times had he tried to kill her, torture her, in his dreams? But every time, it was like he was back in the Pensieve, and he was only a bystander - unable to do anything except watch on in horror, pleading silently to get out. There was no doubt in Harry's mind who was behind all this and why. It was obvious, just like last year with the corridor, Voldemort was delving into these memories in the hopes of breaking Harry. A person could only handle so much before they broke, and Harry had already passed his limit. He couldn't tell how much longer he would last before Voldemort succeeded.

_Especially last night_, Harry added silently, shivering as he stood up. Last night had been the worst; a combination of Cedric's and Sirius' deaths and then his own parents. However, the last wasn't his memory. It was Voldemort's. Up until now, Harry had only _heard_ his parents last moments before they were killed – courtesy of the Dementors - but because of the connection Voldemort and he shared, he could now _see_ what had happened as well, something he desperately wished he could block out. To watch his parents die for him, unselfishly protecting him for a reason they couldn't comprehend, but were _willing_ to risk their lives anyway …

… it was too painful to express in words.

"BOY!"

Harry stifled a groan and wiped his eyes sleepily as he was brought back to the issue of the Dursleys. Although he had once again found himself being forced to stay here for the summer holidays, Harry now knew the reason behind this and it had managed to slightly soothe his anger problem, which had caused him many problems the year before …

"BOY!"

… He was still a little angry though.

Taking one particularly bad-tempered look at the door, Harry turned back to his bedside table to grumpily snatch his glasses. Putting them on so his room was now in focus, he then pulled out some of Dudley's old hand-me-downs and changed quickly, before stomping out of the room.

As he walked down the stairs, he could hear Uncle Vernon ranting about the usual … Grunnings, his drill company … Harry … the newspaper … Harry … owls … and Harry.

Lately though, Uncle Vernon was careful never to mention any of these complaints in front of Harry, as he was terrified of Harry's new friends … especially Mad-Eye Moody, or the 'bloody Cyclops' (as Uncle Vernon called him) who had threatened the Dursleys to treat Harry nicer this summer.

That was what had made the summer drastically different for Harry. No longer did Harry have to cook dinner or do _all _the chores in the house. No longer was his school trunk locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. No longer was he denied food. He was still ignored, of course, and had to do some chores around the house, but they weren't half as much as they used to be.

It was most unfortunate that Harry could no longer bring himself to care about this new behaviour towards him though, or take advantage of it. In fact, he probably wouldn't even have cared at all if they had gone back to their original behaviour. As far as Harry was concerned, if it couldn't change the fact that his godfather Sirius (and last link to a real family) had died, then it was meaningless to him.

It was with this depressing thought that he trudged into the kitchen, where the Dursleys' conversation was cut off abruptly and was replaced with a disapproving silence.

Although Aunt Petunia pursed her lips at seeing Harry's hair, she carefully chose not to reply. She huffed instead and passed another serving of scrambled eggs to Dudley ("Here you go, Diddy. You need your strength.")

"You eat your breakfast boy, then I want you to do some chores around the house," Uncle Vernon commanded angrily from behind the newspaper he was reading.

"Fine," Harry replied coolly, setting himself at the table beside Dudley and reaching out for some toast. "But I need to reply to my friends first. You know the one with the ma- uh … _extra_ eye." He decided at the last moment not to say magical. Those kinds of words tended to make Uncle Vernon hyperventilate these days.

Harry waited with bated breath for Uncle Vernon's reaction, who (by the looks of things) was not at all happy. He had lowered his newspaper onto the table revealing his now red podgy face, and was tightly gripping his fork as though it was Harry's neck. Dudley was looking on in interest, his eyes darting back and forth from his uncle and cousin as he shovelled down the eggs.

Dudley was to be disappointed however, because after a few moments of silence, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat and with a visible effort forced his mouth into a grim smile as he answered Harry a few seconds later.

"Well then, you better do that. Don't want any of _them_ coming around, no, especially not him … what would the neighbours say?"

Aunt Petunia gave an inhumane shriek. "Of course we can't let _them_ come here!" she exclaimed in horror, looking out the window as though 'they' were about to appear. "Why, it would be worse than next door's affair last week!"

She was referring to a little problem of yet another one of their neighbours. This time it was an unexplained guest at 4:30 in the morning. ("That is _far _too early for the milkman." Aunt Petunia had smirked triumphantly.)

Harry decided not to mention that '_they_' were already here in the neighbourhood, under Invisibility Cloaks, watching Harry and guarding him from Lord Voldemort, just like they had last year. He doubted it would make the Dursleys feel much better knowing they had his abnormal kind protecting him. They would rather him be killed, Harry knew for sure. Just last year after finding out that the same 'crackpot wizard' that had killed his parents was still alive and after Harry, Uncle Vernon had even tried to kick him out of the house, not that Harry minded. If it were purely up to him, he would have left the Dursleys' presence years ago.

Already tired of being with them, he mumbled a response as he shoved the last bit of toast in his mouth and rose from the table, mentally sniggering at Dudley's frightened reaction as he accidentally bumped his shoulder. Ever since the incident involving the Dementors where Dudley and Harry had nearly been 'Kissed', Dudley had become even more terrified of Harry and his 'freakishness', as Uncle Vernon liked to put it. In Dudley's opinion, Harry was to blame for the attack, no matter how many times Harry had tried to deny it.

After reaching his room and roughly pulling his door closed, Harry fell back down onto his bed. He hadn't really wanted to write to anyone … it was just an excuse to get out of chores. He hadn't really wanted to do _anything_ much lately, except sit around and mope. If it was possible, Harry's room had become even messier than the previous year as a result of this newfound laziness. Numerous letters addressed to his friends lay half finished on his desk, with letters addressed to him spread haphazardly across the floor.

Harry's gaze lingered on that odd and rather untidy assortment of letters for a few moments as he had a sudden thought that one of his best friends Hermione Granger would go spare if she saw them all bunched up like that, especially seeing as many of them were from her. He snickered, his mood lightening a bit. Knowing Hermione, she probably organised all of her letters into folders or something.

In addition to these letters from her and his other best friend Ron Weasley, Harry had also been receiving constant letters from members of the Order asking his well being, and sometimes even letters of apology from the wizarding public. Consequently, there were always a number of owls hanging around the house, which meant that Uncle Vernon was constantly on Harry's back to remove them. He was particularly nasty to Harry's own owl Hedwig as she was the only owl that stayed around long enough - hence the reason he was yelling so loudly this morning.

Harry vaguely heard the front door opening and Aunt Petunia calling out goodbye to Uncle Vernon. A wave of relief swept over him as he remembered that today was Monday, so Uncle Vernon would be returning to work. As an owl came flying shortly afterwards through the window, Harry let out a groan, knowing that a yell was sure to follow. He wasn't disappointed. Uncle Vernon's voice could be heard hissing directly under his second floor bedroom window a few seconds later.

"GET THAT OWL OUT OF MY HOUSE _NOW_ BOY! DON'T THINK THAT I WILL ALLOW SUCH NONSENSE WHEN I'M NOT HERE."

Harry stuck his head out the window and snidely replied, "I will as soon as I'm done with my letter, _sir_. I wouldn't want to hurry it now, would I?" he added. "_He_ might think something is wrong."

Uncle Vernon paled considerably to Harry's satisfaction and only managed a weak nod before scuttling away to the car.

Harry pulled his head back in, smirking and collected the letter from the owl, who proceeded to fly over to Hedwig's water bowl. He unrolled the parchment and immediately recognised Moody's hasty scrawl.

_Potter,_

_As I have said to you before, remain in your house as much as you can, and try not to leave it unless there is an emergency. We still have guards watching over you at all times, but after hearing some new things (no, I cannot tell you) I can't guarantee that you will be safe if you attempt to go walk-about._

_Professor Dumbledore has asked me to inform you that you will be remaining in your relatives care for the majority of the holidays. He gives you his apologies, but says that as you know the reason behind it, you should understand._

_Once again, if you don't write within three days of this letter, I will be coming to speak to you and your relatives personally. Remind those Muggles, who I hope have still taken heed of my warning._

_Moody_

A scowl replaced Harry's smirk as he reread the first and second part of the letter … _remain in your house … no walkabout_ … this was sounding more and more like a cage, and less like a house. It was true that he had cut back on his outside time this summer, preferring to spend it indoors lounging around, but cutting it out entirely was just too dreary to imagine.

And spending the majority of the holidays here? Surely, Dumbledore would let him stay at the Order or something, wouldn't he? Up until now, Harry had always spent at least two weeks away from the Dursleys and that hadn't done any harm yet. He had to admit that he wasn't entirely excited about returning to Hogwarts for once, but a whole summer without seeing anyone did not sound too appealing.

Sighing, he scribbled a hasty reply to Moody, ensuring him that he was fine, and the Muggles were treating him better than ever. Harry didn't bother to mention the dreams or the sudden surges of emotions he would sometimes experience as well. The most recent had been in the bathroom, where he had started to laugh wildly. Dudley had been brushing his teeth during this, and was given quite a fright watching Harry writhing on the floor in laughter. According to Dudley's cries that night, Harry guessed it hadn't proved his situation to be any better with Dudley. If anything he had become more scared in Harry's presence, thinking him to be a raving loon.

After tying his letter back onto the owl and watching it fly away, Harry looked over to his calendar, where only 14 days had been marked off with red crosses. Two weeks? That's all he'd spent at the Dursleys? There was still over a month left until school, not to mention the results of his OWL's (which had completely flown out of his mind until then) and his sixteenth birthday.

Sighing again, Harry slumped back down onto the bed, landing on an old issue of the Quibbler (Luna had sent him a free subscription for a month).

_What was he to do for more than a month?_ _No magic, no fresh air … what else was there to do?_ he thought desperately. No wonder Sirius hated it … _don't think about it, don't think about it_, he chanted quickly, forcing his mind elsewhere_._

As he picked up the Quibbler to chuck onto the floor, his eyes caught sight of the main headline ('Heliopaths' and where to find them!') and remembered back to the ridiculous story that he had once read about Sirius.

_Sirius!_ Harry jerked up into a sitting position as something suddenly occurred to him. That's it! He could help clear Sirius' name!

Even after the battle in the Department of Mysteries, the Minister Cornelius Fudge had refused to believe that Sirius Black was innocent. As far as he was concerned, there was no body and he just didn't want to admit that they had jailed an innocent man for 12 years. He just couldn't afford another blunder as Fudge was already under an enormous amount of pressure from the rest of the Ministry for denying Voldemort's return for so long. He might even lose his position as Minister because of it.

Harry laughed sourly to himself. Finally Fudge would get what he deserved - but it just wasn't enough anymore. He wanted Sirius to be found innocent no matter what the consequences. So, he would write a letter to Fudge about Sirius and if he wouldn't listen, he'd send it into the Daily Prophet. They loved Harry right now and were determined in making it up to him for all of last year's negative comments towards him. _They wouldn't refuse another exclusive interview with the famous 'Boy-Who-Lived'_, he thought bitterly.

Once this entered his mind, Harry rummaged through the top layer of belongings in his trunk for another parchment and quill. It took him only another few minutes to find an inkbottle and then he set to work, pausing only every few moments to re-dip his quill.

For the first time in the five years since he had discovered the wizarding world, Harry was not upset with his solitary life at the Dursleys.

It would help his godfather to rest in peace in his 'next adventure'.

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**A/N:** Well what do you think? Any good or was it complete rubbish? I would love some feedback so please review!


	2. Vernon’s big mistake

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords:** I am sooo sorry for not updating this chapter sooner. I had a major case of writer's block for this chapter, not to mention I've been quite busy writing my other story. It might be a while until I update this again, although it won't be nearly as long as it was before. Once again, I am really sorry!

My thanks to all those people who reviewed will now be at the end author's note!!

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Two**

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_Vernon's big mistake_

It was 4 hours later when Harry finally finished his letter. It seemed that once he started, he couldn't stop until it was completed and sent off. Even after Uncle Vernon had barged his way in, demanding Harry do the chores he had asked at breakfast. It had only taken a couple of minutes to quickly rid himself of his uncle, calmly informing him he had more letters to write, before he resumed writing his letter. The final copy seemed to be satisfactory enough, he concluded, as he reread it for the last time:

_Dear Minister for Magic,_

_ For the past year, you have belittled me, tried to expel me, and made me out to be some kind of a joke to the rest of wizarding society. I lost friendships; people were scared of me and believed me to be a liar. However, that is not why I am writing this letter to you. I no longer care how irresponsible and stubborn you have been to admit Voldemort's return or how cruel you have been to a mere underage student just to protect your position as Minister. What I do care about goes much deeper than that._

_It all goes back to the events at the end of my third year. All that year, you along with the rest of the Ministry of Magic and the staff of Hogwarts, strove to protect me from the Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black._

_I will pause at this stage because I know that you now have an idea on what the purpose of my letter it. I beg you to read this letter through, because if you don't, I will have no choice but to send my letter and the real story to the Daily Prophet. This is no threat, just a promise. I will go to any lengths to clear my godfather's name. It is the only way I know how to overcome my grief._

_You are already aware of the identity of my godfather. Don't bother to deny it. Yes, my godfather was Sirius Black, but not Sirius Black the murderer, or Sirius Black the escaped criminal. No, he was Sirius Black, an innocent man framed for crimes he never committed, condemned by society and falsely imprisoned for twelve years._

_I told you at the end of my third year that Sirius Black was an innocent man, but you chose not to believe me, just like you didn't believe me when I told you that Voldemort had returned. No matter how much you tried to deny it, I wasn't lying the second time. Voldemort has returned and now you have proof, so why is it so hard to accept that I wasn't lying the first time either?_

_Isn't the incident at the Ministry enough proof that Professor Dumbledore and myself have been telling the truth the whole time? What would we gain out of this by lying? Appearances can be deceiving, Minister, you of all people should know that by now. Lucius Malfoy is a perfect example of that, don't you think? You rallied behind him, believing him to be a well-respected member of society, only because he donated a generous amount of money to the Ministry. Look at him now. A Death Eater, as I've always known, locked away in Azkaban prison._

_It's probably pointless to say this as I've already told you the full story of my godfather; how he lived, how he suffered - but have you heard how he died, or what he died for? Despite being hunted by the Ministry, he still fought for the wellbeing of your idiotic government. He fought against the Death Eaters and Voldemort, not alongside them, as you foolishly insist on believing._

_You have no idea how hard it has been for me to write this letter to you. Ever since the attack at the Ministry, I have tried and tried to forget about what happened to him, but I can't, just as I can't go on letting other people be oblivious to what a great, selfless man has done for me, for you, and for the 'light side' or whatever you want to call it._

_Please, Minister, allow Sirius's memory to be put to rest. He does not deserve to be labelled a Death Eater, especially after fighting for the light side - the side that still condemns him from society, and the side that still hunts him down like some kind of animal._

_If you truly want to make up for your horrible behaviour towards me, consider this; please make a public announcement about my godfather, Sirius Black. Declare his innocence, clear his name._

_I await your reply._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

He sat back in his chair, feeling half relieved that it was all over, and half grieved by the fact that he had relived all those painful memories all over again. It was true that up until that point, even the mere mention of Sirius's name had felt like a painful thrust to the heart.

Whenever somebody (mainly Hermione) would say something about Sirius in their letters, Harry would either pretend that they had never mentioned it, or insist he was fine. What could he really say to them? That he was dying inside? That if it wasn't for him, Sirius would still be alive? That every night he would replay his godfather's death in his dreams?

No, it was better off if he simply kept those feelings to himself. Harry could almost imagine Hermione and Ron's reaction if he told them. Hermione would probably launch herself at him, hugging and crying at the same time … promising that she would look up some Muggle psychiatry books to help him, and of course chide him gently for not being more dedicated with his Occlumency. Ron on the other hand would probably react like Harry would; an awkward pat on the back, at a good manly distance, then a suggestion to play a game of chess or something.

Writing this letter, though, was somehow different, therapeutic even. He felt almost like he did back at the end of the Third Task - that retelling what had happened seemed to siphon off his own emotions and grievances, that it would purge him of these painful memories.

Harry sighed, carefully rolling up the parchment. The last thing he needed was the Minister to send it back because it had ink fingerprints and creases all over it.

"Send this to the Minister for me, will you, Hedwig?" Harry instructed his softly, tying the lengthy letter to her leg. She gave his finger an affectionate nip in return then took off out the window.

Harry watched her for a few more moments, before his stomach gave a loud protest, no doubt from missing lunch. He turned towards one of Dudley's old digital clocks and with a sudden jolt, realised it wasn't only past lunch, but almost nearing sunset. There was no point in fixing something now. Dudley had probably made sure that there wouldn't be a morsel of food left over for Harry as soon as he had laid eyes on the food.

It was still fairly light outside, so Harry decided to instead spend the remaining hours left in the day outside in the backyard. He had found a far more comfortable spot in between two of Aunt Petunia's rose bushes to lie on this year, well away from that cursed window. Even better was that he was half concealed from the house, so the Dursleys couldn't complain about him being within their eyesight all the time.

Usually Harry spent his time there thinking … it seemed lately he had too much to think about, and his brain felt like it was on overload. Most of these things he was thinking about couldn't even be discussed with other people. The prophecy was the one that usually came up, and today was no different.

Harry couldn't decide whether or not to tell anybody else about the prophecy. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of telling his friends that he would either end up killing Voldemort or end up being killed by Voldemort. It was just too weird to think that he was the only one able to kill Voldemort. He was still only a teenager - he wasn't an excellent student at Hogwarts, nor did he have even a quarter of the talent Dumbledore has. He didn't even think he had any 'power that the Dark Lord knows not'. Just because he had a heart and could feel strong emotions such as love, hate, and despair, didn't mean it would save him from death. It saved him from being possessed, but nothing else. It didn't save Sirius.

He shifted onto his stomach abruptly and came to a final decision, ignoring the rip his t-shirt made as it snagged against a thorn off one of the rose bushes. Even though there was still a selfish part of him inside that yearned to tell somebody so that they could console and comfort him … tell him it would be alright … it would probably be better if he kept it to himself when he went back to Hogwarts.

"Come and make dinner for yourself, boy," Aunt Petunia called from the kitchen window, her voice drifting outside straight to Harry. "Vernon and I are taking Dudders out for tea tonight."

Harry rolled his eyes, untangling himself from the bushes. At least he wouldn't have to put up with them tonight, he thought optimistically as he walked into the kitchen.

"Ahhhh – get out, get out, GET OUT!"

Harry ran back outside, narrowly avoiding a frying pan aimed at his head. Aunt Petunia meanwhile (with the offending frying pan in one hand), stuck her head out the door, looking at him with revulsion.

"You're not to come in here looking – all muddy and filthy," she screeched, waving her free hand over to the hose. "Go and hose yourself off before you dare to come back in here."

"I'll just get dirtier if I do that." said Harry, watching the frying pan warily. "Besides, what would the neighbours think?"

Aunt Petunia frowned, then grudgingly stepped aside to let Harry in - just like Harry knew she would.

"Up to the shower then, and mind you don't use the water long." she snapped. "Can't have the water running out before Vernon comes home."

"Now there's a thought." Harry snorted under his breath, walking upstairs quickly, before Aunt Petunia could aim the frying pan at him again.

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Five nights later, Harry stood motionless by the window, watching as the stars flitted in and out of the fast moving clouds. Unlike last year's horrible drought, this year had brought considerable showers and wintry weather. At the moment it wasn't raining, but dark clouds loomed ominously over the houses on Privet Drive. It almost looked as though they were fit to burst, Harry mused silently, twirling his wand around idly.

Hedwig still hadn't returned with Fudge's reply, so after watching for another few minutes, Harry finally made his way to his bed to hopefully get some uninterrupted sleep.

If it wasn't for a rather pompous owl, (looking remarkably like Percy), which noisily perched itself amongst Harry's windowsill two hours later, Harry probably would have achieved that.

Moaning irritably under his breath, Harry reluctantly pushed away his covers, and walked back over to the windowsill, where the owl was impatiently standing. It thrust its leg out importantly, where an unfamiliar looking letter had been tied.

"It better not be another bloody person wanting to sympathise with the 'Boy-Who-Lived'." grumbled Harry, taking the offered letter.

It wasn't until noticing the seal on the back that he realised that the letter contained his OWL results. He stared in trepidation at the envelope for a few moments, not even noticing as the owl took off out the window again. All he could think of was the fact that he was holding the results that would determine whether he could be an Auror or not.

He couldn't help but give a sudden laugh as he realised how ridiculous he was sounding - or actually how much like Hermione he was sounding. Ron would kill him if he found out that Harry was actually worried about his marks.

Another glance at the letter prompted Harry to slit the envelope open. No use postponing the inevitable. As he pulled out the first parchment, Harry settled himself into a comfortable position on his bed so he could read it:

_Dear Mr Harry James Potter,_

_ Enclosed are your fifth year Outstanding Wizarding Level (OWL) results._

_CHARMS _

_ Written Exceeds Expectations _

_ Practical Exceeds Expectations _

_ OWL: Exceeds Expectations _

_TRANSFIGURATION _

_ Written Acceptable _

_ Practical Exceeds Expectations_

_ OWL: Acceptable/Exceeds Expectations _

_HERBOLOGY_

_ Written Exceeds Expectations _

_ Practical Exceeds Expectations _

_ OWL: Exceeds Expectations _

_DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS_

_ Written Outstanding _

_ Practical Outstanding 1 bonus pt _

_ OWL: Outstanding _

_POTIONS_

_ Written Acceptable _

_ Practical Acceptable_

_ OWL: Acceptable _

_CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES_

_ Written Outstanding_

_ Practical Outstanding_

_ OWL: Outstanding_

_ASTRONOMY_

_ Written Exceeds Expectations _

_ Practical Poor_

_ OWL: Acceptable_

_DIVINATION_

_ Practical Poor_

_ OWL: Poor_

_HISTORY OF MAGIC_

_ Written Dreadful_

_ OWL: Dreadful_

_Altogether, you have received 7 OWL's. Hogwarts will be sending you a letter shortly on your recommended classes for your sixth year._

_Yours Sincerely, _

_GRISELDA MARCHBANKS _

_WIZARDING EXAMINATION AUTHORITY _

Harry's heart sunk as he dropped the paper onto his bed. Even with 7 OWL's he had been right in saying that Potions would be his downfall. Apart from Potions, he would have been eligible for the classes needed to become an Auror. Even though he hadn't failed Potions, an 'Acceptable' was far from satisfactory in Snape's view. There was no way that he could be able to get into Snape's class now … he needed to have an 'Outstanding' OWL.

"There goes my hopes now." Harry mumbled dejectedly, rolling over onto his side to glance out the window. He wished Hedwig would come back so he could have some company. He doubted the Dursleys would care that his dreams of becoming an Auror had been dashed, because of a Professor who hated him. Even if they did, it was too late to tell them now - they had been asleep for hours. It was, after all past midnight, and Dudley's snoring had filled the house for the past three hours.

Deciding he'd rather suffocate himself with a pillow than have to willingly think about Snape or the Dursleys', Harry quietly picked the locks on his door, and made his way outside. Surprisingly (and unfortunately), he could even hear Dudley's snoring as he seated himself under their front veranda.

Apart from Dudley's snores though, Privet Drive was unnaturally quiet as Harry looked around. Nothing was stirring, not even any of Mrs Figg's cats. It gave Harry a queasy feeling, as he remembered how the Dementors had managed to accomplish the same stillness last year.

As if to seek insurance that there was nothing wrong, Harry leant back against the wall and raised his head to look up at the stars. To his relief they were still there, occasionally disappearing amongst the clouds.

One star in particular caught his fancy, and he gave a twisted smile as he recognised it.

Sirius - the dog star - the brightest star in the sky.

It suddenly and irrationally struck Harry how ironic it was that Sirius's parents had named him after the dog star, without knowing that it would be his Animagi form fifteen years later.

"Wish you could be here right now Sirius." Harry called out softly. "Who have I got that can knock Snape around a bit and threaten him to let me into his Potions class?"

He choked back a sob, his eyes blinking fiercely as he continued on incoherently. "I'm sorry Sirius, it's all my fault…you have no idea how much I miss you … did you know I wrote a letter to that maniac Fudge? I'm gonna get you freed Sirius … no more Snuffles for you, hey?"

The dog star disappeared from Harry's view for the last time as the clouds covered the sky completely. He waited for it to appear again, but after waiting fruitlessly for fifteen minutes he gave up and closed his eyes.

That was how he fell asleep; propped up against the wall, wand resting next to him on the ground, his head tilted upwards and a tear rolling down his face...

He was running towards the veil, legs straining as he tried to increase his speed ... he had to reach it before they came ... he had too. Bellatrix Lestrange suddenly blocked his path, mocking him.

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo." she cried out, laughing madly.

"SHUT UP!" roared Harry, desperately trying to push past her.

"Aaaaaah ... did you love him, little baby Potter?"

Just like in the Department of Mysteries, Harry raised his wand and bellowed, "_Crucio_."

Bellatrix disappeared with a scream and Harry let out a triumphant shout, but before he could take another step closer to the veil, he found himself glued to the ground, like the statues in the Ministry. Voldemort was suddenly standing in front of him, his pitiless red slit-like eyes glinting in triumph as his wand pointed directly at Harry's heart.

"You have irked me too often, for too long. _Avada_ _Kedav_-" ...

"NO!"

Uncle Vernon roughly shook Harry, with his scar only throbbing mildly, out of the nightmare. For once, his uncle's presence was welcomed with relief.

"Get up you silly boy…"

Opening his eyes reluctantly, he found himself almost blinded by the rising sun. With a shock of realisation, he remembered falling asleep under the front veranda, watching Sirius's star.

Harry raised one arm to ward Uncle Vernon meaty hands away from his now sore shoulders, before standing up slowly. He winced as his neck gave an almighty crack, evidence that his night outdoors wouldn't exactly go unscathed either.

"Don't know what on earth you were doing out here all night. Better not be doing any of your _freaky_ stuff …" Uncle Vernon cursed under his breath.

"Alright I'm up now," mumbled Harry, but Uncle Vernon ignored him.

"… If I'd known that you enjoyed sleeping outside more than in Dudley's second bedroom, I wouldn't bother to let you back in the house,"

Uncle Vernon sneered.

"Just calm yourself down will you? It's not like anything bad happened," Harry protested in annoyance, cutting in before Vernon could add more.

Evidently this was the wrong thing to say to Uncle Vernon and he found himself shoved against the wall.

"Calm myself? _CALM_ myself?" roared Uncle Vernon, digging his fingers into Harry's shoulders again, "What if the neighbours had seen you outside last night? What if they heard your screaming like I did?"

"So what if they had. Maybe it would just reinforce the fact that I go to St Whatsis." Harry retorted bitterly, wriggling away in disgust.

At that moment he really wished that one of the Order was there to hex his uncle … even Snape would be a welcome face if only to get rid of his uncle for a while.

"St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys," Vernon snapped, "and you'd best remember that."

"How could I forget?" spat Harry. "The whole neighbourhood thinks I'm some kind of criminal."

"You _are_ a criminal, just like your stinking godfather."

Harry froze at the words, his emerald eyes blazing with fury. It was a lucky coincidence (for uncle Vernon) that his wand was still laying on the ground, otherwise, it would have been pointing directly at uncle Vernon's heart. When he finally spoke, his voice was shaking with suppressed anger and he was breathing heavily.

"Don't you _dare_ badmouth my godfather. He was worth more than a hundred of you put together and he was _not_, nor ever would be a criminal."

To prevent a repeat of third year, Harry forced himself to pick up his wand, turn around, and walk away … where he did not know, but anywhere but there sounded good enough to him at that moment. He didn't even care that he was directly disobeying Moody's orders to stay put. He figured that the Order would appreciate it more if he kept his Uncle in one piece, and avoided expulsion. After all, where would he go if he had managed to blow up the Dursleys'?

It took two street blocks for Harry's breathing to return back to normal, but the inexpressible urge to hurt Uncle Vernon still remained. The same urge that he felt in his dreams whenever he saw Bellatrix or Wormtail … or Voldemort. He knew that if he returned back to the house anytime soon, Uncle Vernon would probably end up resembling some sort of farm animal or perhaps just a stain on Aunt Petunia's precious carpet …

"Harry."

Being so hooked on thinking of possible curses and hexes for his Uncle Vernon, the voice calling his name caught him off guard and he spun around, his wand already gripped tightly in his hand. He didn't see anyone, but the voice was vaguely familiar.

"Harry." The voice called again. "Over by the bushes."

Harry turned his attention over to the bushes, which had started to move on their own. He watched as Mundungus Fletcher materialised from beneath the Invisibility Cloak he had been wearing.

" 'Sup Harry? What're you doing out 'ere?" he greeted sleepily. Bits of the bushes were clinging to his hair, and it was obvious that he had only just woken up.

"Keeping as far away as possible from the Dursleys," Harry answered neutrally, too grumpy to care that Fletcher had been shirking his job again. At that moment he wanted nobody around him, so as far as he was concerned, Fletcher could go back to sleep.

"Well you shouldn't be out 'ere," warned Fletcher, "I've 'ready got that Weasley woman on my back 'bout last year. She'd throttle me if she found out you'd been wandering 'bout. What'd Mad Eye tell you 'bout sticking to your own place anyway?"

"It's not my place by choice," snapped Harry, "And I'm telling you now, if you make me go back, I'm going to blow them up."

Fletcher laughed, obviously thinking that Harry was joking.

"Sure they're bad, but you can 'andle them."

Harry shot him a deadly glare. "Not if they start mentioning Sirius."

"Ah- well … " Fletcher shifted uncomfortably, and covered himself up with the cloak again before continuing on. "How 'bout you go for a tea at Figgy's then?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but you can send a message to Professor Dumbledore." he said, looking over to where he thought Fletcher was still standing. "Tell him that unless he wants me to be expelled, then he'd better get me out of here before the holidays are up."

There was a hesitant pause before Fletcher replied. "I uh can't."

"Why?" Harry demanded impatiently.

There was no answer and Harry's temper began to rise again.

"FINE!" he shouted, "Just fine. Ignore me and leave me here, stuck with the worst possible Muggles imaginable. After all what's another few weeks to the fifteen horrible years I've almost spent here already?"

He stormed off angrily to the park with the broken swings without a second glance back. Fletcher probably had orders not to speak to Harry like last year, so of course he wouldn't send any messages to Dumbledore. Harry frowned. Fletcher would just end up getting into even more trouble with Mrs Weasley. Wasn't that just great?

When Harry finally reached the park, he noticed that even the remaining swing had been broken completely this year. It was now lying on the ground, bent completely out of shape. Big D's gang must have stepped up in the world, Harry thought sarcastically.

Kicking the swing with disdain, he searched the park for any other places to sit. The benches by the trees had been burnt down the year before, so they were out, same with the ones by the barbeque. He groaned in annoyance as he walked around the park. The only place to sit was on the ground.

He eventually found a relatively grassy spot where he could comfortably lie on his back. After a while, he could feel his remaining anger dissipate, and he started to relax slightly.

Harry heaved a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, listening as the wind rustled the branches of the trees nearby… listening to the birds chirping … listening to that owl hooting.

Wait a minute, owl hooting?

Harry's eyes shot open and he caught sight of Hedwig who was flying towards him. She hooted again, before finally coming to a rest on Harry's shoulder.

"Hedwig, what are you doing here?" exclaimed Harry, looking around anxiously in case somebody was watching. Luckily it was still pretty early, and the only people around were keeping well away from the 'Potter' kid.

He turned his attention back to Hedwig who was still hooting softly. With one hand he stroked her feathers, while the other reached out for the letter she was carrying. Almost at once, he recognised the Ministry seal, and he opened the letter quickly.

A few minutes later the letter was screwed up and thrown down by his feet. To Harry, some of the words would be forever etched into his mind.

_Harry … regret to inform you that the Confundus charm must still be in place … I'll make sure that you get it checked out sufficiently this time … if you want to remain at Hogwarts, it'd really be for the best if you kept quiet about this fictional story … Sirius Black … murderer and an escaped convict … impossible to clear his name … absolutely ludicrous … how about I award you an Order of Merlin instead, for saving the __Ministry from You-know-who? … Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge_

"Alright Fudge, if that's the way you want to handle it, then fine," Harry smirked, picking up the parchment again as an idea grew in his head. "I won't give up yet. That was only just the beginning." __

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**A/N:** Sorry this is kind of a cliffhanger. The next part I was planning to write would have been too long to put in this chapter.

Thanks to **Roxane, q, s.b., Knuckz, Regulus Black, tje-82871, Katie-Ann, roswellobsessed, telephoneoperator, coffeelover180, Charlie Potter, **and **mella deRanged. **

And an extended thanks to the following:

**I can read:** Thanks for reviewing, but I won't be having Harry and Luna get together as I think she could be a good friend to Harry, but nothing more. In the book, I was given the impression that she had a slight crush on Ron anyway.

**Alexis-Lee:** Thank you! And yes I will be having Remus in this story. He is after all the only (good) Marauder left, and I reckon he is the only link left to Harry's parents … not to mention that he's one of my favourite characters.****

**Myr Halcon: **Thanks, I really appreciate your feedback! I did try in this chapter to explain more of Harry's feelings regarding Sirius's death. Hopefully it makes more sense to why he's doing this now.****

**PhoenixPadfoor89:** Fudge will get what's coming to him.****

**Caty: **Really? Thank you so much! That is a really flattering compliment being compared to Rowling herself!

**Colleen DeWitt: **Thanks, like I said above, it's really flattering to be compared with the masterful Rowling.****

**Erin:** Feel free to tell me where I made these errors so I can fix them up! I always hate it when I read stories with errors all over the place.

**Byloconnor: **lol, yes it is. Hopefully, it won't remain that way any longer.

**Sristi: **Yes, I did hear rumours that this will be the title for the sixth book Of course, I am most likely wrong, but I'll use it for now anyway, lol.

**Dragonsprincess: **Wow, thanks for the great review. I'm really happy that you like it so far and I have to say I loved it when you said you were 'addicted' to my fic. He he, thanks! And I won't say much about Fudge, other than I think you already know what he's like!

**Piukka: **Thanks, I've decided I will keep on going with this, but my other story is going to be my first priority. I hope I won't disappoint you in saying that I won't be bringing Sirius back, even though he's one of my favourite characters and I was extremely upset by his death. I just don't think it's realistic for him to come back.

**Kalorna Enera: **Thanks, glad you don't think it's rubbish. I got the idea of the 'green flame torch' from the rumours of the sixth book, but I do have my own ideas that will come into play later on.

**Sillyjase: **Thanks, and like I saw before to another reviewer, if you don't mind, feel free to point out my errors. And don't worry, I know what you mean about Sirius. I only started to write this fic because I was so devastated about poor Snuffles! He was one of my favourite characters too!

**Snuffles: **Thanks for reviewing this story even though you don't usually read this genre of HP. Normally I don't either, but I thought I'd try it out, lol. I hope you keep on reading this fic too, cause to tell you the truth, your reviews always make me so happy! He he.

**Keroberous: **Thanks, I'll be sure to read your fic in the next few days. From what I've heard, the green flame torch _could be_ the name for the sixth book, so people who can't think of a creative title for their story (ie: me), are using it. Although I do have my own theory as to what the torch could be, which I'll be putting into the story later on.


	3. Venturing forth

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Well whaddya know I updated within a week … well by the end of the week that is. Uni has been pretty boring for me so I decided to update sooner. Who knows, I might even have my other story updated in the next day or so as well.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Three**

_Venturing forth_

Once again, Harry found himself in his room, writing furiously on another piece of parchment. This time, it took him a couple of days to get what he wanted right. Only the sheer hatred of Fudge's idiocy kept him dedicated to the task, as Harry was determined to get Fudge to listen, no matter what happened to the Minister. Getting him fired was the least of Harry's worries.

He was so relentless in this work that during this time he didn't bother coming down to eat at mealtimes, only occasionally raiding the fridge for leftovers. Food didn't matter to him as much anymore. Not to mention ever since he returned from his little outburst with Uncle Vernon, he had made sure to steer clear of all the Dursleys.

It was obvious how much Uncle Vernon longed to punish him - locking up his school things (and him), cutting back on his food rations and so on. What was really unfortunate for Uncle Vernon was the ever-looming threat over his head.

Unfortunately, Harry now had a threat hanging over his own head too. Sometime in between his work and the incident with Uncle Vernon, Moody and Lupin had sent him a letter of disapproval. In it they had reproached Harry for leaving the sanctity of his house, and that if it happened again in the future, they wouldn't hesitate to lock him up in the house. They hadn't even tried to listen to his side of the story. Harry wouldn't really have cared though, if it weren't for Lupin's parting words.

_… Your parents risked all to save you. As I have said before, __are little things like__taking a walk outside for instance, worth __their lives, and Sirius's? ..._

Harry had contemptibly thrown the letter aside at that last mention of his godfather. Like he needed to be reminded of any more guilt. Hadn't he had enough to last a lifetime?

Still, he had listened; content to remain in his room, writing what would hopefully end up being an article in the Daily Prophet.

But now, two days and an article later, Harry was at a loss for what to do. He desperately needed some solace in doing something, he just didn't know what.

It was perhaps lucky for Harry that Aunt Petunia noticed his growing restlessness as he walked up and down the house and assigned him some chores to do. He spent the next afternoon immersing himself in all the day-to-day chores he used to do round the house until starting at Hogwarts. He cooked dinner, and cleaned the house, until all that was left was his own room, which he left untouched. Messy was how he liked it, and messy it would remain – plus, he couldn't help but revel in Aunt Petunia's apparent disgust that her house wasn't completely perfect.

After only picking at his dinner that night, before retreating upstairs to his room, Harry crossed off another day on the calendar. He realised that there were only 9 days until his birthday. Would he go back to the Order before then? Would he see Hermione and Ron soon?

Now onto the subject of Ron and Hermione, Harry began to wonder why neither had written in the past few days. He would have expected Hermione to tell him of her OWL scores immediately. Had they been told not to write him because of what he did?

He had spoken too soon, because at that very moment, Pig came barrelling in through the window with two letters. Giving a sigh of relief, Harry untied the two letters, and offered Pig some water before he went on his way. The first letter he opened was from Ron.

_Hey Harry, _

_ How did you go in your OWL's? I ended up getting 6. Can you believe it? It's the same as Fred and George's scores combined. Not that they care of course. They reckon I'm gonna turn out like Percy. Mum, on the other hand is real pleased. She started rambling on about another scholar in the family. Maybe I'll be able to get something else off her for it?_

_Hermione_ _isn't happy with me though ... been ranting at me ever since she got her blasted letter. She got 10 OWL's (9 Outstanding's mind you), and she's not even satisfied with that. Almost had a heart attack when she found out she only got an Acceptable in Astronomy. You thought my mother was bad ... you should listen to Hermione. I reckon she could even give that old hag (you know who I'm talking about) a run for her money._

_Listen, I know things must be pretty boring over there with the Muggles. We're trying to get them to let you leave early ... it's just not easy. Hang in there, and we'll tell you everything when we see you._

_Ron_

_P.S. I was listening with the twins' Extendable Ears a few nights ago, and I heard that your Quidditch ban has been dropped ... and Dumbledore's got your Firebolt. How excellent is that? We'll get to play together again! Oh, you just can't let on that you know though. Act surprised when they tell you._

Harry suppressed a laugh as he finished the letter, imagining Ron hiding out with Buckbeak, whilst Hermione was on a rampage about the OWL results. That was definitely one thing he did not envy Ron for.

Even more exciting for him was the fact that he would be allowed to play Quidditch again. When Ginny had mentioned last year that Harry would replace her as seeker again when Umbridge would leave, he had found it hard to remain optimistic … more so when the ugly hag had bolted his Firebolt down in the dungeons. It had almost felt like there was no hope to ever get his broom back. But this - it was so amazing to hear now. How he yearned to get back up into the air, twisting, turning, diving.

His eyes closed briefly, and for a moment, felt as if he really was flying up in the air. It was probably the only thing that he could always do to get his mind off things - maybe even Sirius.

He opened his eyes reluctantly, and reached for Hermione's letter. It was pretty much as he expected.

_Harry, _

_ Can you believe that they didn't do anything about our Astronomy scores? I mean, they shouldn't have even allowed the exam to go on after everything that had happened. When I found out I only received an Acceptable, I was so upset. I was aiming towards perfect scores in everything. I'm sure Ron's already told you, but I received 10 OWL's, and he only got 6. I told him to do more studying, but that's what you get when you don't study sooner. I'm sure the same applies for you. How did you go with your OWL's? Did you get the scores needed to get into the classes to become an Auror?_

_Ron and I already have the list of classes we can enrol in. Yours will be coming by owl shortly, or so I've heard. I do hope you choose better than Ron would have done if I weren't here. Honestly, if it wasn't for me watching over him, the only smart thing he would have done is drop Divination!_

_Anyway, we can't tell you much else, except I hope I see you soon. If I don't, we'll all be sure to send you your birthday presents._

_Love_

_Hermione_

Harry apprehensively put down the letter, all the while thinking what Hermione was going to say if she found out he had only one more OWL than Ron? Maybe he should delay Hermione's letter a bit? Nah, that wouldn't work. Ron and Hermione were together at the Headquarters. He sighed, shooing Pig out the window and then dumped the letters on the ground. He'd write them both letters later on when he could actually think of something to write back. Though now that he had finished reading the letters, he had nothing to do again, and he really didn't want to go to sleep. Nonetheless, he leant against the back of his bed, allowing himself to drift away into his thoughts.

He felt a little bit guilty that he hadn't yet told anyone about his letter to Fudge about Sirius, or the one to the Daily Prophet, but the little voice in his head just said that they'd find out soon enough anyway. Surely the article (if it was going to be put in) would be in the next three days or so.

Then they'd be in for a shock, he thought, giving a small smile.

* * *

The next morning, he woke up earlier than usual, to find that Aunt Petunia had gone out shopping for the day. This meant that he would be alone with Dudley and Uncle Vernon; not a pleasant thought. Aunt Petunia he could stop himself from hexing, but Dudley and Vernon? No way.

It proved to be true after breakfast, when Harry headed towards the kitchen door with the intention of walking back upstairs. Uncle Vernon had retreated outside to yet another one of his new cars, so Dudley and Harry had been eating breakfast together.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dudley asked, causing Harry to stop in the doorway.

Harry coolly raised an eyebrow. "Back to my room."

"No you're not, you're gonna do the dishes." Dudley commanded imperiously, pointing over to the sink with a podgy finger.

Harry remained firm in his spot in the doorway. "No," he said simply.

No one in the house usually ever said the word 'no' to Dudley, so he looked quite shocked. "Are you just looking for trouble?" he asked dumbly.

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Harry observed lazily.

"Do it, before I - I –"

Harry snorted. "You what?"

Dudley stood up, glaring at Harry with his piggish eyes, but he didn't say anything. Harry could practically see it in Dudley's eyes how much he wished he could beat up Harry, like the good old days where 'Harry hunting' was his favourite pastime.

"Why don't you just take a shot at me, Big D?" taunted Harry, making sure that the tip of his wand was just visible from his pocket. "It would sure beat the normal ten year kids you like to target so much. Who knows, I might prove to be a challenge. You're not the only one with a _stick_."

Even an idiot like Dudley couldn't miss that blatant hint.

"I- uh – you can't-" spluttered Dudley, losing the ability to speak properly again.

"I- uh can't what?" Harry asked mockingly, grinning. He was thoroughly enjoying this experience of teasing Dudley. It got better every year.

At that moment, Dudley seemed to take control of himself and replied back stubbornly. "You can't use - that against me anymore. I know you can't use your - your thing here. You'll be expelled this time. Dad showed me one of your letters from a Professor at your school."

The grin abruptly disappeared from Harry's face. That was news to him. Since when had Uncle Vernon read his mail? Since when had he even been _near_ his room, other than to lock Harry in it?

"When did this happen?" Harry asked menacingly, his good humour completely faded by now. How dare his so-called family rummage through his belongings - belongings that up until now, the Dursleys' hadn't even spared a glance at?

Dudley smirked, and looked pleased that he had stood up to Harry. "I don't have to tell you anything."

A wand was suddenly pointed threateningly at Dudley's throat. "You - will - tell - me _now_."

"It's too bad your filthy godfather's dead now, he can't protect you from anyone anymore, or use it to threaten mum and dad." Dudley sneered back unexpectedly.

It took all of Harry's effort to not hex him. "What did you say?" he managed to say through clenched teeth.

"I read that too, in one of your friend's letters," replied Dudley, taking a step back at the look on Harry's face. "And it's hard not to ignore your pitiful cries at night. I thought last year was ba-"

Harry was furious, even more furious than he had been with Uncle Vernon, and stopped Dudley from completing his sentence by jabbing his wand next to Dudley's throat. "Don't you _ever_ say anything like that about Sirius again. Do you hear me?" he hissed angrily. "Because I don't care if I get expelled anymore for doing _magic_, you-"

But he never got to finish that threat as a hand came out of nowhere and spun Harry around violently, so that he came face to face with a very displeased Uncle Vernon. "Boy, what the _hell_ do you think your doing?"

"I was thinking whether or not your son would look better as a pig or an elephant,' snarled Harry, clenching his fist around his wand. 'But he's already been a pig, so it might be an elephant this time."

Uncle Vernon's face looked ready to explode at the last comment that no doubt reminded him of the first disastrous incident with Dudley and a pig's tail. His fists went flying in the air, close by Harry's face, and he shouted angrily, "That's it! I've had enough of you. I can't get rid of you, and I can't stop _them_ from keeping in touch with you, but I will _not_ stand for you threatening my son with your - freakishness. You've been given too much this summer and it's about time you were put back in your place."

"Really? Please tell me how you're going to do that?" asked Harry maliciously. Right now he couldn't care less what kind of idiotic plan his Uncle had in store for him. His mind was still reeling from the mention of Sirius's death, and the fact that his privacy, (how small it may be) had been invaded.

"It's about time you earned your keep again in this house, boy." Uncle Vernon replied nastily, his face still purple. "Your things are going back into that cupboard, and _you_ are going to do some work around here."

"Are you blind?" exclaimed Harry, almost laughing from sheer exasperation. "I cleaned out your whole stupid house yesterday, and I cooked dinner for you. What more else is there to do?"

"Don't you open that insolent mouth again! You do what I tell you, or I will chuck you out."

"CHUCK ME OUT THEN!" Harry exploded, "I don't care anymore. You're not the only one who has had it with living here, and - and if you think your gonna go back to treating me like a servant again, then you got another thing coming."

"Another thing coming, hey?" repeated Uncle Vernon, sporting a vicious grin that made his moustache and double chin wobble. "Well then boy, get out."

"What?" Oh, this wasn't good. Harry hadn't really meant to let that particular bit out. He wasn't allowed to leave; there was nowhere else safer than with his relatives, as much as he hated to admit it. Uncle Vernon didn't seem to care about that little fact anymore, though.

"You heard me, _get_ _out_," he hissed, forcibly grabbing Harry by the back of his neck, and dragging him towards the front door. Uncle Vernon then opened the door and heartlessly threw his nephew outside onto the ground, where poor Harry hit the ground with a painful thump.

"I've waited almost fifteen years for this moment." Uncle Vernon sneered from the doorstep. He was still holding onto the front door with one podgy arm. "Marge was right. We should have drowned you when you first came onto our doorstep. Goodness knows the trouble we would have avoided if we had."

And with that, he slammed the door shut, causing the house to tremble with the force of it.

Harry was speechless as he remained on the ground in an uncomfortable heap. No matter how much he loathed the Dursleys', it still stung how much they didn't care about him ... to have his own relatives regret that they had kept him alive all these years cut deeper than he could ever have imagined. Whether this was because of Sirius's still recent death or the truth about his Aunt's blood protection, Harry didn't know ... or care. He was so caught up in disbelief that he hardly even noticed when footsteps approached him from the footpath behind him.

"Come along, Potter."

The familiar silky tone that accompanied the voice immediately snapped Harry out of his thoughts, and he spun around snarling to face Snape's very unwelcoming appearance that was as usual, wearing his long, black, willowing robes. In the sunlight, his hair looked lankier and greasier than ever, and even his nose seemed more out of proportion with his face.

"Probably thought that was funny, didn't you Snape?" Harry spat angrily, not even wondering why Snape was there in the first place. Just looking at the face of his godfather's enemy was enough to stir up all the feelings of guilt he had been feeling over Sirius's death. Then slowly, as Snape continued to glare at him, the guilt started to turn into hatred and white-hot anger. Snape had caused Sirius's death too.

At that, Harry was spurred on and he continued on spitefully, "Seeing the famous Boy-Who-Lived out on his butt ... homeless ... without a family ... and looking all pathetic. Must be a dream come true."

Snape raised both eyebrows, and his lips curled into an unpleasant smile. "I do not wish to dwell on any part of your worthless life, Potter. Having to come and collect you is bad enough for me."

"But surely your life has improved since last year," Harry said mockingly, though his eyes stated otherwise. "I mean, now that you've gotten rid of Sirius, that is."

"I wasn't the one who _got_ _rid_ of Black. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

Just as Harry was about to launch himself on Snape in a fit of fury over that last comment, another voice shouted out behind them.

"ENOUGH!"

Lupin appeared from an Invisibility Cloak and his voice was stern, sterner than Harry had ever heard from the usually good-natured wizard.

"Fighting amongst ourselves is one of the reasons Sirius is dead," he said fiercely, his gaze shifting from Snape to Harry, the latter frozen in mid-movement. "Not being able to put aside our own differences ... not being able to let go of _stupid_ school boy grudges."

Harry hung his head in shame and even Snape had the grace to remain silent.

Lupin seemed satisfied by this, and calming down visibly, he took a good look at Harry who realised bashfully, that he looked terrible. As usual, his hair was un-brushed, but this time he knew that he looked more gaunt, skinnier than when he had left Kings Cross Station. Skipping out on meals and grieving for Sirius had definitely taken a toll on his body these past few weeks.

Thankfully, Lupin remained quiet about Harry's unkempt appearance and changed the topic.

"Other than myself being here as a guard for you, Professor Snape and I are also here as we've been monitoring the problems you've been having with the Dursleys, Harry." he explained. "We knew it was only a matter of time before something happened, especially after last week."

"So did - did you ... hear everything just then?" Harry asked softly, averting his eyes to the ground as he was almost 100% sure of the answer. He knew he would never live this down from Snape. If he had thought Snape seeing into his memories was bad, being here in person to witness Harry's miserable home life was almost ten times worse. Snape was probably thinking of things to say to him already, though at least there would no longer be any torturous Potions classes to hear it in, which was a small plus.

Lupin nodded slowly, almost apologetically when Harry finally gained the courage to look back up. "I'm sorry, Harry. We didn't want to invade your privacy but we wanted to make sure you were safe."

Harry was about to say something to that, but was stopped as Lupin raised a hand and motioned towards the front door.

"We can't stay here much longer. It's already dangerous enough that Professor Snape is out here in the open, but we couldn't help it."

"I'm coming with you?" asked Harry hesitantly.

Again, Lupin nodded and looked down at his watch. Harry was suddenly struck with the realisation that his stuff was still upstairs in his room, and that there was little chance of getting it back as he'd just been kicked out.

"I need to get my things first though, and the Dursleys' won't-" protested Harry, but Lupin interrupted him.

"I know Harry. We'll go with you."

Harry nodded in obvious relief as he set off for the door behind Snape and Lupin. Snape was the first to reach the door, and he raised his arm to rap loudly onto it. The door opened a few seconds later, revealing an extremely pissed off and still purple in the face, Uncle Vernon.

"What do you want?" he demanded furiously, no doubt noticing Harry behind the two adults. He turned to Snape. "The boy's not to come back here for the rest of summer or the next. I won't allow it."

"Don't worry yourself, Mr Dursley," Lupin said pleasantly, answering swiftly for Snape. "Harry won't be returning here this summer ... but he will be coming back next summer, no matter how much you try to fight it. I'm sure if Mrs Dursley was here, she would agree."

"Fine," Harry's Uncle spat, already moving to close the door. "Just get out of here."

"Not so fast, we - wish to collect Mr Potter's belongings," sneered Snape, his black eyes fixing onto the bulging figure and his wand clearly visible to the world in one hand. He didn't seem too concerned by that fact either, and twitched it slightly, making Uncle Vernon flinch back.

"Then - go ahead." Uncle Vernon replied distastefully, waving his arm upstairs as he eyed the wand. "Get rid of all his stuff. I was planning on chucking it all out anyway if the boy didn't come back for it. _Useless freakish stuff_." He mumbled the last bit as he disappeared into the kitchen with Dudley, who was hiding behind the door at the sight of two full-grown wizards.

Harry sucked in a breath at the thought of his photo album and Invisibility Cloak being thrown into the bin, but didn't bother to respond. Thank goodness he was leaving at long last, he thought, walking up the stairs alongside Lupin. And as for next summer, he'd come to that road when he reached it. Harry figured staying at the Dursleys' next summer wouldn't be as bad, seeing as halfway through, he'd be able to legally use magic; something that he couldn't wait to try out firsthand on his darling relatives.

He smiled at that thought, climbing up the last stair. Snape wasn't far behind him as Harry reached his room and unlocked the many locks on his door. Uncle Vernon hadn't wasted any time bolting up the door again. Probably thought it would stop Harry's freakishness from spreading into the house, Harry thought darkly.

"Bit paranoid are you Potter?" Snape jeered, motioning towards the door, and pointedly ignoring the look that Harry saw Lupin sending out of the corner of his eye.

"In case you haven't noticed already, _sir_," retorted Harry, finally pushing open the door. "But these locks aren't to keep people from coming into my room ... they're to keep _me_ in."

As he entered the room, he added ironically, "It wouldn't have been hard to lock me indoors if you had really wanted to, Professor Lupin. It's not as though I'm not used to it by now."

Harry caught Lupin's horrified reaction as he bent over to his trunk, but didn't think much of it as he began to collect all his bits and pieces.

It was slow work, and Snape kept on muttering irritably under his breath.

After a few minutes of packing though, Lupin seemed to pull himself together and as he took out his wand, he suggested quickly, "Here, let me Harry. I'm sure Tonks did the same last year."

Lupin waved his wand, muttering a soft incantation that almost at once transferred all of Harry's belongings into the trunk. Harry straightened up in relief, before clinging onto the trunk and empty owl cage. Hedwig still hadn't returned from sending the article to the Daily Prophet, but she was smart enough to realise where he went, so Harry didn't think twice about it.

"Thanks." he mumbled to Lupin, letting Lupin then take his trunk, which he offered to do.

Still not saying anything, Snape mutely strode over to Harry and shoved an empty vial of potion into Harry's free hand, which he looked quizzically at it.

"It's a Portkey, Potter." Snape growled impatiently, reaching out to put a finger to it. Lupin did the same.

"With permission from the Ministry, it will take us straight to Order Headquarters," Lupin added when Harry blinked, still momentarily thrown. "In about one minute."

As Lupin had predicted, within a minute, the Portkey activated and Harry felt the familiar jerk at his navel as everything spun around him. By now he was used to the feeling of Portkeys, and he managed to remain upright as he arrived in the kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place.

Snape almost immediately pulled back from the vial, stalking off to the dining room without another word or a look back. Harry, meanwhile, felt his stomach tighten with dread as it finally sunk in where he would be staying for the rest of the holidays.

"Sirius's house." Harry muttered softly to himself as he looked around at the familiar and heart wrenching surroundings. Too many memories of his godfather flashed past his mind, and he found himself holding back tears. Finally, he came back down to Earth as he noticed that Lupin was watching him with an intense look on his face. Harry forced a smile on his face.

"So..." he began cheerily, though to him it came across as being in a completely unconvincing tone. "Where is everyone?"

Lupin smiled back, although his eyes showed concern. "Not everybody knows you're coming here Harry, but they're all in the dining room." He began to walk to the dining room door, and motioned for Harry to follow. "Come."

Harry nodded wordlessly, following Lupin into the dining room.

He was met with a chorus of "Harry!" and he fought to keep the smile on his face as he caught sight of everyone. Apart from Dumbledore, pretty much all of the Order were present, including all the Weasleys (except Percy) ... but as much as he was glad to be there, Harry didn't want everyone to know how he was really feeling inside ... and that smiling was one of the last things he wanted to be doing.

"Hi." he replied back softly.

Grinning widely, Ron – taller than ever - got up from his seat to greet Harry, but as usual, a bushy-brown haired girl got there first with a bone-crushing hug and hysterical cries.

"Oh, we're so glad you're here … but why did you come so early?" Hermione stiffened. "Is something wrong? You didn't do anything to your relatives again, did you? Oh Harry-"

"Relax Hermione, I did nothing wrong," Harry reassured her firmly, pulling away from her as he added, slightly bitterly, "The Dursleys' just kicked me out."

Mrs Weasley, who was sitting beside Mr Weasley, stood up with an outraged shriek.

"You mean to tell me that they threw you out of your own home?" she cried out, rushing over to Harry and embracing him in one of her own hugs.

Harry's voice was muffled as he answered, "It's not as much a home as Hogwarts or with all of you, and I like them as much as they like me."

Mrs Weasley let out a sob, clutching Harry tighter.

"It's alright, Mrs Weasley," he added soothingly, deciding whether or not it would be rude to pull away to get some air. "Really, I don't mind." A slight lie, but Harry couldn't truthfully say that he wasn't upset at leaving, just the manner in which he did.

"Yeah mum, shouldn't you just be giving Harry some air," said Ron, from somewhere over Harry's left. "First Hermione, then you. It's a wonder he's still breathing ... OW!"

However blunt Ron's comment was, Mrs Weasley promptly pried herself away from Harry. When Harry looked over in Ron's direction, he saw the reason for Ron's loud complaint. Ron was rubbing the back of his head, looking slightly miffed at Hermione who was "humph" ing in annoyance.

Nonetheless, Ron recovered and he finally had the chance to shake Harry's hand and greet him properly without interrupting, and pretty soon after, Harry had greeted almost everyone in the room. The twins had been the most amusing to see again, though. They had greeted them in their green dragon suits, filling him in on all of the new tricks and things they'd invented.

Fred had even slipped a new creation into Harry's pocket.

"Bulging Butterscotch," he had mumbled quietly into Harry's ear. "Guaranteed to swell up any annoying wizards - or Muggles. Got that idea from what you did to your Aunt."

All in all, the day passed with Harry feeling quite relaxed for once. There were so many people around him that he didn't have time to dwell on Sirius, which in itself was very welcome. Even mentions of Voldemort and his doings were slim, as this day was to be a time off for everyone until the official Order meeting the next night.

"Welcome back Harry." Harry mumbled softly that night, as he climbed the stairs with Ron to go to bed.

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**A/N:** I hope you all like it. It's sooo hard to keep everyone in character, if you know what I mean. Please tell me if it was alright or not. Anyway you know the drill, please review.

Anyway, thanks goes to **Zane Lupin, Colleen De Witt, Elf, puppygirl, Serpent of Light, **and **epholge **for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Mella deRanged: **Yes, I'd definitely have to agree on that one.

**Jeff: **lol, me too. He's fun to write … but then all arguments and things like that are fun to write. They're the best bits!

**Dragonsprincess: **Ooooh begging! That's a new one for me! Thanks for the great review! I agree completely with everything you said and your suggestions for Fudge are very entertaining, lol.

**Regulus Black: **Yes, you were right. He is an absolute idiot!

**Peter Kim: **Yeah, I can tell you now that what Fudge is doing could end up with him losing his position as Minister ;)

**John: **Sorry, the story isn't going to be in this chapter, but the upcoming ones will have it, I assure you!

**Can't b bothered: **Yeah sure, I'll try and keep all my chapters this length. Hope that's alright!

**PhoenixPadfoot89: **lol, don't be sorry. I don't like Fudge either. And Harry really wants to be an auror, so maybe things might work out in the end ;). That's all I'm saying though.

**Snuffles: **Oops, my bad. Afterwards, I realised that Harry probably wouldn't have talked like that. Lol, it was more me talking than him. Too many assignments at uni with old movies influenced it. He he. I'm glad you liked it regardless and I hope you enjoyed Hermione's reaction to her OWL scores.


	4. The wizard life

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Wow, I just realised I haven't updated this in ages. I can't believe how fast time goes. Sorry for not updating sooner, but because I've started uni again, I've been real busy with assignments and stuff, including a short story I have had to write for my English class! And I had my birthday! Yay! I'm legal!

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Four**

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_The Wizard life _

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"Had a nice sleep Harry?' Ron asked when they had awoken the next morning.

Harry grinned as he pulled on one of Dudley's old, grey and very large sweaters. "Yeah, sure beats sleeping at the Dursleys." he replied.

It was true. That morning, he had woken up feeling more refreshed than he had for ages. Granted, he had still woken up once from a nightmare with his scar throbbing, but with the comfort of being back in the wizarding world and near his friends again, Harry was able to get back to sleep quite easily - apart from the little problem of Ron's snoring, that is, Harry reminded himself with a snigger.

He decided to voice that thought aloud. "Though, your snoring sounds pretty similar to Dudley's." he said impishly, avoiding the wayward pair of knitted socks heading straight for his head.

Ron sniffed, almost sounding like Hermione. "Don't compare me to that quivering heap of lard," he complained, opening their door to walk outside.

Yawning widely and stepping over the socks, Harry made no comment, but just smiled as he followed Ron out their door for breakfast. Hermione and Ginny were already waiting for them halfway down the hall.

"Alright there Harry?" greeted Ginny, unfortunately at the same time Hermione asked, "Did you sleep alright?"

Ignoring Ron's soft snigger, Harry snapped indignantly, "I was alright after being asked the first time by Ron, but if people keep on asking me the same question over and over again, I won't be."

Hermione looked abashed but Ginny just shrugged non-commitedly, a movement that creepily resembled both Fred and George's mannerisms, and reminded Harry about her troublemaking tendencies last year at school.

"Ok, we promise we won't ask you again," said Ginny, smirking as she added, "Can't say the same for mum though. You know how she is-"

"-Especially when she's worried about Ronniekins little friend Harry." Fred interrupted, grinning as he appeared from behind them with George.

Ron grimaced at the hated nickname, and began to snap back loudly, "I AM NOT-"

"Oh, hush Ron," reprimanded Hermione, whacking him on the shoulder and frowning. "We don't want Mrs Black to hear us … Especially after what happened last time."

To Harry's amusement, Ron snapped his mouth shut with a sheepish expression. Obviously, Ron had done some blunder or something in the past, which had involved that old hag. He'd have to force it out of Hermione afterwards, Harry promised himself silently, with a grin.

"Right then." mumbled Ron, his face reddening slightly. "How bout we go get breakfast?"

The others all nodded their agreement, and together they quietly made their way down to the kitchen. Mrs Weasley was already bustling about the kitchen as they walked in, and Mr Weasley was at the dinner table, reading the latest Daily Prophet newspaper.

With a start, Harry remembered the article he had sent to the newspaper. It should be in the newspaper in the next few days, he guessed, sitting down beside Ron and Ginny at the table. He bit his lip anxiously for a moment, thinking what everyone's reaction would be, before noticing the table's other occupants.

On Mr Weasley's right side, were Tonks and Remus; Remus as usual, looking bedraggled and tired, and Tonks looking quite colourful with her short, bright pink hair. On his other side, sat Moody, Kingsley, and a scowling Snape.

Harry raised an enquiring eyebrow at this, and shot a curious look at Ron.

"What the hell is Snape doing here, eating with us?" he whispered menacingly to Ron, but loud enough for Hermione to hear as well, who was sitting on the other side of Ron.

As Ron was too busy shovelling all the available bacon and eggs onto his plate, Hermione answered for him. "It all goes back to you Harry."

Harry was downright confused. "What do you mean? Does it have to do with him coming to get me?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "It does partly, but this all starts before he came to pick you up with Lupin."

"Why'd he come to get me anyway?" interrupted Harry, shooting a suspicious glance at Snape who was brooding over by the table. That had been a question lingering in his mind ever since he had calmed down enough from seeing the greasy git.

Ron laughed through his mouthful of eggs. "That's the thing. He didn't _know_ he had to come get you."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh – since the – the … thing at the Department of Mysteries, You-know-who-"

Harry interrupted in exasperation. "_Voldemort_, Ron."

"Yeah – him." Ron acknowledged with a nervous nod. "Anyway, his death eaters have kinda been in his bad books. Letting the boy-who-lived get away again and all that." he sent Harry a sly look.

"And?" Harry prompted impatiently. He really didn't care to dwell on that bit right then. It brought up too many unpleasant thoughts about Sirius and that darn prophecy.

"And as you know, Snape's one of them, so lately he's been lying low … here at the order headquarters." explained Hermione, continuing the story on for Ron. "So being stuck here with nothing for him to do for so long, the next time the Order had a secret mission or so to speak, he immediately asked if he could go."

"Asked?" Harry couldn't help but repeat doubtfully. He didn't think the word 'ask' was in Snape's vocabulary. Ron seemed to catch his drift and he grinned widely.

"Well it was more like demanding to get out of this dratted house and take part," admitted Ron. "Then apparently, by the time he found out that his mission was to go get you with Lupin, he couldn't back out. He was desperate to get out of the house, and in the end it backfired on him."

"At least he could get out of the house," Harry mumbled darkly, absently playing with his food. "Sirius didn't have the luxury of choosing whether he wanted to be in hiding or not."

Ron gave an uncomfortable cough, and Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but was stopped by a glare from Ron. A silence grew between the three of them, and Harry turned back to his breakfast.

He played with his food for a little while longer, pausing only to take small mouthfuls of his eggs, and to glare at Snape. Snape was definitely putting a damper on things. After shooting everyone the famous Snape glare as they ate, even the twins were subdued for once and were only chattering quietly with Ginny in the corner.

Sighing inwardly, Harry continued to look around the room, feeling as though something was missing. It was only when he caught sight of the doorway leading out to the hallway that it finally hit Harry and he scowled, viciously spearing a piece of bacon.

"Where's that traitor house elf?" he asked, turning his head to look at Ron and Hermione again.

At that question, both Hermione and Ron looked uncomfortable. Eventually Hermione answered, "Well, obviously Dumbledore couldn't release him from this house, so - he - uh transferred Kreacher to Hogwarts, where he'll work with the rest of the house elves. It was really nice of him actually, giving Kreacher a second chance-"

"-Second chance," Ron interrupted heatedly. Obviously this had been discussed before, Harry guessed, watching as Ron dropped his fork in a huff. "Getting someone killed doesn't warrant a second chance, Hermione." Ron continued on. "He deserved to have his head put on a platter like all that other filth in the hallway."

Hermione looked aghast. "Ron! It wasn't his fault. It was the way he was brought up and treated. If you and everyone else had paid more attention to S.P.E.W.-"

Ron interjected. "-It still would have happened. Face it Hermione. He was a rotten egg. There was nothing decent in that filthy elf. Ask Harry."

They both turned to Harry, who narrowed his eyes.

"I agree with Ron, Hermione," he said darkly. "Dobby deserved a second chance in life at Hogwarts, Kreacher doesn't. He deserves to be treated the same way he treated Sirius."

Ron nodded, obviously satisfied, but Hermione looked ready to disagree again. In the end, she must have taken into consideration Harry's feelings because she settled for just taking an extra large bite of her toast, and then began talking to Ginny.

"Harry dear, you really should eat more." said Mrs Weasley suddenly, serving more eggs onto his plate as she re-entered the dining room. Harry shook his head wryly, his bad mood dissipating, as he heard Ginny stifle a laugh. Ginny and the twins had been right, but then again Harry should have known exactly what Mrs Weasley was like by now.

"I'm not feeling really hungry, Mrs Weasley," he replied politely, pushing his plate away from him. "But thank you anyway."

Mrs Weasley tutted in concern, and pushed the plate back. "Why, you must be hungry Harry. You're skin and bones!" she exclaimed. "Those relatives of yours must have been starving you again, by the looks of things."

Harry inwardly smiled at Mrs Weasley's sudden change in her attitude over the Dursleys. It was true that before this year, she hadn't thought much of them, but before she had refrained from ever saying anything negative about them. Now though, that had gone out the window, and she'd been freely talking about their neglect towards him since the day before, when she found out the Dursleys had kicked him out for the rest of the summer.

"Nah, they fed me fine this year," replied Harry, giving up and taking another bite of his eggs. "Just lost my appetite a bit, that's all."

He was careful to avoid Lupin's eyes as he said that, knowing that he and everyone else were discreetly listening in on the conversation. There was just no point in burdening everyone with his problems, especially with bigger fish to fry, like Voldemort. What does one boy's feelings matter anyway? He mentally nodded, now determined to shift the attention away from himself.

Harry cleared his throat purposely. "So what's been happening with Voldemort now?" he asked loudly, ignoring Ron as he spilt pumpkin juice all over his front. ("Oh really, Ron." Hermione huffed.)

It was Lupin that answered guardedly, after sharing a look with Moody who nodded in consent.

"Since the wizarding world have become aware of Voldemort's return," Lupin began, "he and his death eaters have been keeping a low profile. After all, he did lose quite a few of his most loyal death eaters to Azkaban again-"

Harry interrupted in confusion. "-Hang on, why doesn't Voldemort just get those death eaters back?" he asked. "I mean, he's got the Dementors on his side hasn't he?"

Moody nodded gruffly. "Yeah, but they aren't the only ones guarding Azkaban anymore." he answered, his magical eye fixed onto Harry. "Dumbledore has convinced the Ministry to place some Aurors around the prison as well."

"Like Tonks and Kingsley?" Harry guessed, looking in their direction. He wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now, with those Dementors walking about.

"Yes, I'm one of them." Kingsley replied, smiling grimly. "But not Tonks, as her expertise lies with other things."

"Yep," Tonks grinned wickedly, almost toppling over a jug of milk when she reached for another piece of toast. "Thank goodness I'm not there. Those Dementors give me the creeps." she shuddered.

Harry himself couldn't hold back his own shudder as echoes of his parents, Cedric's (and then sure to be next), Sirius' voice shot through his mind and he closed his eyes momentarily. Each year, it seemed that the Dementors gained more ammo on his worst memories, he thought bitterly.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked, and Harry's eyes shot open in alarm. Lupin, (who was the one to have spoken) was looking at him across the table, as was the rest of the table.

"Yeah," he hastily replied, running a hand through his hair, then looking down at the table. He couldn't stand the way everyone was looking at him; mixtures of pity, and sadness. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Forcing back the lump in his throat that had suddenly appeared, he attempted to ask another question, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

"What else is the Ministry doing to help?"

"They've given the Order complete control over everything." replied Kingsley, "which means that everything goes through Dumbledore, instead of the Minister, which irks Fudge to no avail."

Harry scowled, remembering back to Fudge's letter. "Fudge is a fool," he grumbled darkly.

"Yeah, when are they gonna sack him?" Ron piped up excitedly.

"No one knows." Mr Weasley said quietly, "It's all just rumour at the moment, but they think one more scandal, and he'll be gone."

At that, Harry smirked triumphantly. After the article in the Daily Prophet, Fudge would be out on his butt for the whole wizarding world to see. And boy, did he deserve it.

"Whatcha smirking bout Harry?" Tonks asked. "You could give Snape a run for his money with that look."

Harry quickly wiped the smirk off his face and Snape, who up until then had avoided the conversation, scowled. "I'd appreciate it if you would not use any comparisons between Potter and I." he replied coldly.

"Don't worry, I think it was more of an insult to me than you, Snape." Harry mumbled, quiet enough for Ron to hear. As Ron began to choke with laughter, half-chewed pieces of egg began to fly over the table, and even Harry couldn't contain a smile.

Soon enough, the whole table was chuckling over Ron's antics, except Snape who stalked out of the room, snorting in disgust. Harry thought thankfully that everyone had forgotten about him smirking. It was a selfish action, but this whole incident with Fudge and the Daily Prophet would be a secret until it came out in the newspaper, and he would keep it that way.

When Harry wiped a bit of egg from the tip of his nose, Ron managed to choke out, "Bloody brilliant Harry."

Harry spent the rest of breakfast doing something he had rarely done in the past two months - laughing.

He laughed when Tonks finally succeeded in spilling the milk jug. He laughed when Hermione finally told him how Ron had made Mrs Black scream again. He laughed along with Ron, when the twins attempted to clean up the table with magic again, and ended up with flying plates and cutlery around the room. He even laughed when one of those said plates hit him on the upside of the head and created a large lump.

The wizarding life was so much more interesting than the Muggle world, was all Harry could think about, as he helped to catch one of the flying plates.

* * *

The next day passed in much the same way. Despite Order members going in and out of the house, and a meeting at night, the atmosphere amongst Harry and his friends remained light and he found himself enjoying every minute of it.

So far he had avoided many questions about school, other than Hermione demanding his OWL results, to which he had replied vaguely that he had gotten 7 OWLs. She seemed partly satisfied with that, but had attempted to hound him for hours on what subjects got what score, and what questions he thought he might have bungled. Thankfully, before she could ask about what subjects he would take as well, he was rescued by Moody and his magical eye, which had most likely seen them through the kitchen wall.

Unfortunately, his good mood couldn't last that long, and it was the next night just before dinner that the dreaded subject came up. He had just received his subjects list for sixth year from Lupin, and Hermione jumped onto the subject straight away.

"What subjects _are_ you going to choose this year? You can't do Potions now, which means you can't be an Auror." she rambled on knowingly, not stopping as she moved on to suggest alternative options.

Ron groaned and placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry mate," he said, over Hermione's voice. "My hopes of becoming an Auror were shot down too. Not that I mind anymore. Having another year of potions …" he trailed off, shuddering.

"Yes well, you wouldn't be able to handle Auror training Ron." Hermione cut in forcefully, and then added in an unusually sweet tone, "I've heard that Auror training involves dealing with every dark creature imaginable."

Harry caught on and he smirked as he nudged Ron. "Hear that Ron? You would probably have come up against an Acromantula at one stage."

Ron paled considerably, and Harry let out a bark of laughter. "Good thing we won't be doing the training then hey?" replied Ron. "I don't know about you, but maybe you can concentrate more on Quidditch now-"

"-Or you can try and keep as many options open as possible, like me." Hermione added firmly and a bit disgruntled as she most likely realised that Harry and Ron hadn't been listening to her, "I still can't decide on what career to take, so I'm taking every class I can take. Without having to use a time-turner that is."

"He shouldn't worry about that. He can just be a Quidditch player, or do some little job at the Ministry. That's what I'll probably end up doing anyway." Ron persisted. "Just do what I'm doing and forget about missing out on potions, 'cause in the end it's way too hard anyway."

"No, but you don't understand." protested Harry. "If I want to kill Voldemort I needed ALL those subjects to …" he trailed off, realising he had said too much.

"Kill?" asked Ron, confusingly.

"I mean defend myself against him, you know?" Harry hastily corrected, giving a forced laugh. "I mean, me, kill Voldemort? No way. I just think I'm running out of ways to escape him each year."

Ron seemed to be satisfied with that and he laughed too. "Yeah as if you'd be able to kill – You-Know-Who. You're only fifteen."

Harry bit his lip, thinking how wrong Ron was, but not wanting to correct him. Hadn't he been only one when his parents were murdered? Hadn't he been only eleven when he had to face Voldemort a second time. Hadn't he been only fourteen when he watched Cedric die. Hadn't he been only fifteen when-

No, he wasn't too young, but he wasn't about to say that to Ron yet, so instead he forced another laugh, and turned to Hermione, who had been unusually quiet.

"I don't know what I'm going to do Hermione," he answered finally, which was true. Most likely, if he couldn't kill Voldemort, it wouldn't matter what subjects he did at Hogwarts, because he'd be dead. Of course he couldn't tell them that.

As luck had it, he was saved from the torture of choosing subjects as Dumbledore himself came to visit them at the order headquarters that night.

It was the first time since Sirius's death and being told about the prophecy that he had seen Dumbledore. After a feeling of overwhelming anger momentarily rose towards the man (but thankfully disappeared), Harry couldn't help but grimace as Dumbledore sat down next to him to join them for dinner. He felt as though he couldn't say anything other than a brief hello.

The whole dinner was spent remembering every detail of that time spent in Dumbledore's office, … how he had destroyed all of Dumbledore's possessions, how he had screamed at him … he had even made Dumbledore cry. What witch or wizard could say they'd made the great Albus Dumbledore cry?

It was with a shameful heart that Harry silently made his way through dinner and dessert … eating and talking hardly at all. He was really dreading what Dumbledore would say to him the moment when they were alone … that is if he still wanted to be near Harry at all, especially after what Harry had done.

Harry sighed heavily as he collected his plate and walked over to the kitchen sink. He spent quite a while there (even after he heard Ron and the others go upstairs), attempting to look busy, in the hopes that nobody would notice him gone.

Maybe Dumbledore would just ignore him, like he had done all of last year, Harry thought glumly, drying off his hands with a towel.

"Harry." A soft, commanding voice sounded by the entrance of the dining room, and he slowly turned around. Professor Dumbledore was standing alone, his arm outstretched for Harry to join him and the twinkle absent from his eyes.

Taking note of the absent twinkle, and how old Dumbledore was looking, was a bad sign for Harry and he reluctantly followed Dumbledore into the dining room. They both sat down next to each other, Harry looking determinedly over to the fireplace.

There was silence for a few more moments, before Harry couldn't stand it any longer and he blurted out desperately, "I'm sorry."

The last thing Harry would expect was for Professor Dumbledore chuckle, but that was what he did. "Whatever for, my child?"

Harry's mouth opened wide and he turned his head back to Dumbledore in amazement. How could he not guess already? When he answered, his voice betrayed his incredulity. "For – for destroying your office … for yelling at – at you, and …" he stopped in embarrassment,

"Yes?" Dumbledore enquired gently, his lips curling up into an encouraged smile.

"And for making you cry."

"My dear boy." Dumbledore laughed again, a loud laugh, which made Harry doublethink what Dumbledore thought of him. He didn't seem angry, and when he talked to him, it was as though nothing had happened.

"My dear boy." Dumbledore repeated firmly, gaining Harry's attention back. "Those items that you broke in my office mean nothing to me. They are nothing but material possessions. And I do not blame you for being angry. Not then, not now, not ever." he stopped to study Harry through his half-moon spectacles.

"But I hurt you." Harry insisted stubbornly.

"We were all hurting Harry, and it wasn't you that hurt me, nor was it you that made me cry." replied Dumbledore, beginning to search in his deep blue robes for something. With a cry of triumph, he pulled out a bag of lemon drops, and offered one to Harry, who declined politely.

"I cried because I know how hard your life has been Harry … how much burden has been placed on you, and knowing that I was partly to blame for it. You have had a hard life without your parents - and now without your godfather Sirius. You have been denied many things … becoming a prefect, having a normal life, the prophecy … the list goes on."

"It wasn't your fault about the prophecy, Professor." Harry interrupted, feeling numb with shock.

"Alas, as I have said before, I should have told you about it straight away." Professor Dumbledore maintained sadly, popping a lemon drop in his mouth. "Sirius may never have had to go to the Department of Mysteries if I had told you all this before."

"No!" Harry replied vehemently. "It wasn't just your fault. It was MY fault Sirius went there, and Snape's-"

"-Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore warned sternly, and then put away his lollies. "But never mind. I am not here for that matter tonight."

Harry nodded thankfully, knowing he tended to get a bit worked up about Snape these days. "Are you here for another Order meeting?" he asked.

"Yes, and no." Dumbledore answered cryptically. "I am here to see you first, then the Order."

"What about?"

"Your sixth year subjects." replied Dumbledore, pointing towards Harry's letter, which he must have picked up from the table. "Professor McGonagall has told me that you wish to become an Auror."

"I _wished_ to become one." Harry corrected bitterly. "I can't now though, 'cause I don't have the right score in Potions."

"Aha, but Professor McGonagall has also informed me that she promised you that she would find anyway possible for you to achieve this goal."

Harry frowned. "But I thought she was only saying that because of Umbridge?"

"No, she believes in you, as do I, that you could become a great Auror," said Dumbledore, smiling as Harry gaped in shock.

"She – you – both of you think I could be an Auror?" spluttered Harry.

Dumbledore gave a faint nod. "That we do, Harry," he answered. 'And that is why we are going to overlook your mark in potions. It was still, after all, quite a good mark." He paused, and his eyes slightly regained their twinkle. "I daresay that you also must be prepared in every way possible when Voldemort comes after you again. These subjects and an Auror career path may be your best option," he added.

"So you mean, I can still become an Auror?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Yes Harry, although it is a difficult path."

"As if my life hasn't been difficult already. I can handle it." scoffed Harry, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

"Very well. I am very glad you are happy with this. I will tell Professor McGonagall the good news in the meeting." At this Dumbledore stood up slowly, and embraced Harry's hand warmly. "Do not feel guilty for what has happened Harry. I once told you not to dwell on dreams and forget to live. This is the same. You must move on."

Harry nodded sombrely, but didn't dare say that he couldn't. "I'll try, Professor." He managed to say eventually.

Dumbledore smiled, seeming to notice Harry's inner conflict. "That's all I ask. Good-day."

Watching Dumbledore's back all the way to the Order meeting room Harry was in a state of shock. Thanks to Dumbledore and McGonagall, he could still become an Auror.

He grinned madly as he bounded up the stairs. No doubt, everyone had already heard their conversation with the extendable ears, especially when he caught sight of a red mop of hair skirting around the corner.

Sure enough, when he reached the corner, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were waiting for him, smiling. Harry inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. He thought for a scary moment that Ron might be jealous that he got special attention again. Thankfully, all that was said by Ron on the matter other than a congratulations was,

"I don't envy you. Snape's gonna have a fit."

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**A/N: **Ok there's another chapter done. Sorry it doesn't have too much in there at the moment, but it will get better later on. Unfortunately I've got all these ideas and stuff for later chapters, but for the ones coming up, I've got a bit of writers block. Lol. Anyway, hopefully some nice reviews might help me.

As usual, thanks goes to **Natalie, Elf **and **Regulus Black **for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Mella deRanged:**Yes, he will get it published. He is the boy-who-lived after all? And who would want to deny anything from him now? Other than Fudge of course, lol. Anyway thanks for reviewing, and you'll read more on the article next chapter.

**CokeFreak: **I hate Vernon too. He's such an arrogant bugger!****

**PhoenixPadfoot89:**he he, I could be! Lol. I don't want to tell you too much cause then I might spoil it for you!. Thanks for reviewing again, by the way.__

**Kiwi:** Thanks, I'm glad you feel for Harry. That's what I intended to do when I first started to write this story. I hope you keep on reviewing!

**Jeff:** Yeah angry Harry is cool. You'll see the angry Harry return many times in this story … and who better than at Snape. Nothing will get through the greasy head otherwise, lol.

**Dragonsprincess:**Hiya again. Sorry I took so long to update, but I hope this is enough for now. Unfortunately the article isn't gonna be in this chapter though. Sorry bout that, but it will be next chapter definitely. I thought this chapter might fill in the gaps about a few things.__

**Snuffles:** Don't worry, though it doesn't seem like it, I am another person who actually likes Snape. He will also be playing a bit more of a role in this story than Rowling usually puts in hers. I'm glad you liked that little section with the three of them as well. It took me a while to get exactly what I wanted.


	5. Shock horror

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Not much to say this time, other than I'm sorry as usual. I'm still alternating between fics so it is taking a bit longer to update. Anyway, this chapter should be long enough for you. I think this chapter (excluding author's ramblings) is 4100 or something close like that. So enjoy.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Five**

_Shock horror_

The next day, Harry luxuriously loped around the house. He was in a remarkably good mood, now that his dreams of becoming an Auror weren't squashed after all, and his birthday was only a mere two days away - one which he wouldn't have to spend at the Dursleys. The second one, he might add; the first being with Hagrid when he was just about to start at Hogwarts.

Even better was the fact that Snape had yet to make an appearance too, since that morning at breakfast. From what he guessed, Snape was too busy spying on Voldemort to come to the Order headquarters, which was fine by Harry.

After breakfast that morning, Harry followed the Weasley children and Hermione up to Harry's and Ron's room. It was when they reached the safety of Harry and Ron's room that the conversation took an unexpected and unpleasant turn.

"Harry, I was thinking … what did Professor Dumbledore mean when he mentioned the prophecy?" asked Hermione, sitting down on Ron's bed beside Ginny.

Harry was instantly nervous, and his head shot up in alarm. "Uh, what do you mean?" he replied back, forcing his voice to take on a confused tone.

Hermione seemed in deep thought. "Well he said he should have told you about it ages ago." Harry couldn't help but gulp slightly. "But I thought you didn't know what the prophecy was about, other than it concerned you and Voldemort?"

This was the moment he had been dreading. The moment when the prophecy would be brought up. He just couldn't find it in him to tell them … they wouldn't understand … for Merlin's sake, he hadn't even come to grips with it!

"I don't know, Hermione." Harry lied desperately, hoping that Hermione would believe the next thing he would add. "H- He just meant that he should have told me there was a prophecy, so then I would have known from the beginning what Voldemort wanted."

"Oh." was Hermione's only reply as she seemed to ponder what Harry had said.

Before Hermione could ask anything else, Ron thankfully shifted the attention away from the prophecy.

"And what's this about you making old Dumbledore cry and breaking all his things?" he asked, with a wry grin. "I forgot to ask you the other day."

"It happened just after …" Harry stopped to give a meaningful look at Ron, whose grin faded. Needless to say, he didn't have to say exactly what had happened. "And whilst you were still bumbling around with that brain, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. I was a – bit angry-"

"If it's anything from last year," Fred began mischievously, "I'd say your 'bit' of an anger was probably-"

"Pretty intense." George finished, grinning from ear to ear.

Harry flushed. "It could have been," he admitted reluctantly.

"Oh Harry, how could you destroy all of Dumbledore's things?" Hermione reprimanded gently.

"Sirius just died." Harry snapped back suddenly, making Hermione jump back at his unexpected mood swing. "What was I supposed to do? Have a party? Perhaps invite Voldemort and his Death Eaters over to celebrate a job well done?"

Hermione's features tensed in alarm and she looked stricken.

"I'm sorry," she began hysterically. "I didn't mean it like that. I-"

"No offence Hermione," interrupted Harry, his stomach clenching with the guilt of snapping at Hermione. "I'm sorry, but I'm really not in the mood to talk about all this. I just got given the first good news in a long time, so just drop it."

Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder. "I wouldn't exactly call it good news mate. You're gonna have to put up with Snape in Potions class again." he said.

"Still, imagine the look on Snape's face when he finds out the bane of his existence has been accepted into his Potions class," said Fred.

"Imagine the cries of-"

"THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING TO ALLOW THAT INSOLENT BOY BACK INTO MY CLASS!" A voice shouted from downstairs, cutting George off abruptly.

"Now, Severus-"

"NO! NO EXCEPTIONS THIS TIME MINERVA!" The voice grew quieter as he was most likely led into the meeting room.

Fred and George turned to each other, grinning.

"Anger-" Fred continued on.

"Disbelief-"

"Shock-"

"Horror." they both finished, giving Harry a slap on the back.

"You are the only one, apart from me and Fred, who really gets to Snape like that," congratulated George, looking almost wistful as he seemed to remember his potion days. "And we worked our butts off to piss him off as much as you do."

"Yeah, except unlike you, all I have to do is breathe." Harry murmured sarcastically to Ron, who was sitting beside him on Harry's bed.

Ron roared with laughter, and repeated Harry's comment out loud to the others, who laughed as well. After the laughter had died down, Ron pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"Up for a game of Exploding Snap?" he suggested.

Apart from Hermione who was studiously reading _'Standard Book of Spells, Year 6',_ everyone clambered onto the floor to begin the roughest game of Exploding Snap that Harry had ever played.

After the fourth glass of water was poured onto Harry's hair to extinguish the fire starting there, another shout suddenly arose that could be clearly heard at the bottom of the staircase.

"GET THAT BOY _NOW_."

Harry paled drastically in the middle of patting his wet hair down, and turned to the others in assurance that he had just heard wrong.

"I wouldn't fancy a chat with him now." Ginny commented casually, cementing Harry's fears. He jumped up in a panic, ignoring everyone else's sympathetic mumblings.

"Where's my cloak? I have to hide before they make me go down there." he gibbered wildly, leaping over to his trunk and pulling it open. He ignored Fred's whispered "Cloak?" to George. "There's no way I'm talking to that prat now."

Just as he was halfway through looking in his trunk though, the door opened to reveal a flushing Mrs Weasley. Her eyes latched onto Harry immediately, and she smiled apologetically.

"Harry dear," she said softly. "Can you come downstairs for a moment?"

Harry sent a frantic look in Ron's direction, who looked equally as frazzled. Groaning inwardly in defeat, Harry closed his trunk with a loud snap.

"I'll see you soon then." Harry said, gulping. Ron nodded nervously in return.

Walking past Fred and George, he heard Fred mumble discreetly to George "Famous last words."

He grumpily followed Mrs Weasley, only half-listening to her as she quietly explained that Snape wanted to see him. He scoffed inwardly. Why bother telling him this? He and obviously the rest of the world had heard Snape's yelling. Still, he decided to keep quiet. Snape was only half of what Mrs Weasley could be.

Finally, reaching the dining room, Harry came face to face with an extremely pissed off Potions Master. Professor McGonagall seemed to have left, so other than Mrs Weasley, he was alone with the greasy haired man.

"You," the greasy haired man hissed, pointing at Harry. "Sit down _now_."

With a contemptuous glare in Snape's direction, he sat down on the chair with the most distance between him and Snape. Mrs Weasley cleared her throat purposely, and both Harry and Snape turned to face her.

"I'll be in the kitchen cleaning, if anyone needs me," she said, before retreating into the kitchen. Harry turned back to Snape who was scowling.

"What did you want me for, sir?" asked Harry rudely. No points could be taken out of school, so he wouldn't hesitate to give as good as he got. "I gather it's not a social call."

Snape sneered, pacing up and down the room.

"You gather right." he replied back silkily. "I've just been given the unfortunate-" Here he stopped momentarily as though to calm himself. "-news, that you will be in my Potions class this coming year. Tell me Potter, what do you think you'll accomplish by coming into _my_ Potions class?"

"To learn Potions," Harry replied back snidely, "_sir_."

Snape walked briskly over to Harry's chair and pulled out his wand, though did not point it at Harry.

"I am not in the mood for your foolish games, Potter." he spat through clenched teeth.

"I'm not playing any games. I want to do Potions to become an Auror." Harry said honestly, narrowing his eyes as he eyed Snape's wand, which still thankfully wasn't pointed towards him.

"And how can you possibly believe that you will make it through to become an Auror?" Snape mocked cruelly, his lip curled in disgust. "No one has been accepted for over three years. Surely your ego doesn't reach that far."

Taking a deep breath to quell his rising anger, Harry remained silent. Snape seemed satisfied by this and smirked.

"Of course, how could I forget." continued Snape. "You're the boy-who-lived … the saviour of the wizarding world. Of course you'll get it … just like you get everything … just like your excuse of a father did."

"Leave my father out of this." Harry shouted angrily, rising to his feet. His hands were clenched tightly by his side and unknowingly, his fingers puncturing his palm. "In case you haven't noticed, he's _dead_. As are all your other little school enemies now. Shouldn't that make you _happy_?"

"Sit _down,_ Potter.' Snape commanded harshly, making Harry's scar twinge in pain. "If you want to remain in my class you will at least obey my commands."

Damn, the stupid prat was right. Harry groaned softly, as there was nothing he could do other than sit. He reluctantly did so, without knowing until that moment that he had been, and still was shaking considerably.

"My my, Potter. Getting rather a temper these days." Snape commented. "Are you planning on following in your dear godfather's footsteps?"

"Don't you dare mention Sirius," Harry growled menacingly, gripping the arms of the chair with all his strength. "You have no right."

"Don't worry Potter, I don't plan on mentioning that stupid mutt again," retorted Snape. "Seeing as I won't be meeting him anytime soon, that is."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SUCH A HEARTLESS BASTARD?" Harry roared, unable to control his fury any longer. "YOU DESERVE TO BE WITH VOLDEMORT-"

"-The DARK LORD." Snape interrupted angrily, his black eyes narrowed dangerously.

"_Voldemort_." Harry countered firmly, glaring furiously at Snape. "You deserve to be with _Voldemort_."

He turned to storm out of the room, but Snape roughly grabbed an arm to yank him back. Stifling a yelp, Harry tried to pull out of the grip. No such luck.

"I have not finished with you Potter," snapped Snape, not releasing the painful grip on Harry's arm. "You are to listen to me at all times, you hear me? I won't hesitate to kick you out of my potions class if you set just _one_ toe out of line … because I don't care how highly you think of yourself … I said, _do you hear me_?"

He released Harry's arm, and Harry rubbed it tenderly. "Loud and clear." he bit back.

Snape put away his wand, and crossed his arms in grim satisfaction. "Your _father_ and that mutt always seemed to think rules were above them … something that you have inherited from them. Let's just see if you can break that habit … no doubt you can't … and I for one am waiting eagerly for that to happen."

"You just wait and see then, _professor_." Harry spat, but before turning around added callously, "Are we finished now?"

"Yes." sneered Snape, and walked out without another word, slamming the front door shut behind him. With a moan of pure frustration, Harry stomped his way up the staircase, ignoring Mrs Black's indignant shrieks. Leave Mrs Weasley to put up with that old hag, he thought angrily.

With a quick yank then slam of his own door, he entered his bedroom again, where everyone (except Hermione) was still playing exploding snap. They all looked up at him in alarm, but Harry hardly noticed them.

"Trust Snape to ruin the good mood." he fumed, striding over to his trunk and wrenching it open. He suddenly had a maddening itch to flick through his photo album again … just to show that his parents and Sirius weren't always as bad as Snape always said they were. As his hands progressively dug deeper in his trunk, Harry found himself visualising his parent's wedding. His parents and Sirius wouldn't have been like that there. They would have been loving, and kind, and-

"Oww!"

Hermione immediately jumped up to Harry's side, throwing her book down. The others weren't far behind and soon enough they were all watching Harry anxiously.

"What's wrong Harry?" demanded Hermione.

Ron's eyes were opened wide as he fidgeted with his hands. "It wasn't your scar again was it?"

Without answering, Harry pulled out his hand from the bottom of the trunk, his right thumb bleeding deeply from a cut.

Hermione almost sobbed in relief, but then grabbed Harry's hand in a maternal manner.

"You've cut yourself," she stated, pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket and tightly wrapping it around his thumb.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. He'd already figured that bit out on his own. Sneaking a look at Ron, he saw that Ron was thinking the same thing. That was the smartest witch at Hogwarts?

"What did you cut yourself on?" Ginny asked curiously, and Harry followed her gaze to his trunk. He had an unpleasant suspicion, but didn't answer as he watched Fred and George rummage carefully through his trunk.

"Blimey!" Fred exclaimed suddenly, pulling his hand back as he reached the bottom. "It's broken glass or something, and it's all over the bottom of your trunk."

"Been at the Firewhiskey again have you Harry?" George joked, closing Harry's trunk.

Harry could only manage a feeble smile, as his mind went back to when he had smashed Sirius' mirror … that's where those glass shards were from. Until now, he had completely forgotten about the mirror. Well, it was more like deliberately pushing his mind away from the mirror. He wasn't stupid. He knew that if he had just used the mirror instead of Umbridge's fireplace last year, then Sirius would still be here. He had thought of it time and time again while he lounged around the Dursleys.

"Harry?"

"Huh?" he asked, his mind wrenched abruptly out of his guilty thoughts.

"It won't stop bleeding, and I obviously can't heal it." Hermione repeated slowly, motioning to his thumb. "So Ginny just suggested that we get Mrs Weasley to heal it for you."

Harry nodded vaguely, allowing himself to be led through the door by Ginny and Hermione, (the others in tow) where Mrs Black screams were slowly receding. They all silently walked downstairs and into the dining room, where Lupin, Tonks, Moody and Mrs Weasley were now all sitting. Snape thankfully hadn't returned, but Harry wondered where the others had been just before.

Mrs Weasley jumped up at the look on their faces, and the way Hermione and Ginny were beside Harry. She frantically rushed over to them.

"What's happened?" she asked urgently.

Ginny gestured to Harry's hand, and he sheepishly lifted it up to show Mrs Weasley the now bloody handkerchief still wrapped around his thumb. He was a bit embarrassed with all the attention. It was only a cut, after all; he'd had much worse at the Dursleys, and all he'd get there would have been a bandaid.

"He cut himself on some broken glass in his trunk." explained Ginny, "We thought you'd be able to heal it."

There was a collective sigh in the room, and Harry flushed in embarrassment.

" 'Tis nothing really." he mumbled.

Mrs Weasley shook her head, returning from the kitchen where she had grabbed a small white box.

"Nonsense." She dismissed, opening the box and pulling out a tube of ointment. A couple of minutes later and Harry's thumb was completely healed. Rubbing it thoughtfully, Harry didn't hear when Mrs Weasley asked him another question.

"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that." he apologised.

"I asked how on earth did broken glass get in your trunk?" she asked, frowning.

George sighed regrettably. "I'm afraid Harry's been at the Firewhiskey a bit much, mum."

"WHAT?" Mrs Weasley turned to Harry in astonishment. She looked about ready to start another one of her boisterous lectures.

"Of course he _hasn't_, mum." Ginny cut in firmly, though she was smiling.

Harry ignored Mrs Wesley's shrieks at George for joking about something so serious, absently shifting his gaze onto Remus who was again watching him intently. He had a foolish feeling that Remus might have guessed to where that broken glass came from. Hadn't he known about the mirror too, when him, James and Sirius had been at school? Hadn't he known that Sirius had given him the mirror?

"Where _did_ you get that broken glass from?" Tonks interrupted suddenly, making Harry jump.

"Uh –" he began hesitantly. "I – uh – it was from a …" he trailed off to look at Remus again. He continued on softly, so that Remus might not be able to hear properly. "It was from a mirror."

He was out of luck though.

"You broke a mirror?" Ron asked incredulously, and very loudly.

"Seven years bad luck!" Fred and George crowed dramatically, clutching onto each other in mock grief.

"Oh hush you two." Mrs Weasley chided angrily. "Where did you get that mirror from Harry? I'm sure you can chuck this one out and get another one."

This, Harry wasn't too keen on answering. Shuffling his feet nervously and his gaze now permanently fixed onto the ground, he eventually said, 'I'd rather not say, and I don't - think it can be replaced.'

A silence immediately came up, and Harry squirmed uncomfortably as he felt everyone's gaze upon him.

"Well," said Mrs Weasley, finally breaking through the silence. She seemed to want to say more, but held back. "I'm sure one of us will be able to fix it."

It was then that Lupin abruptly cleared his throat and stood up.

"I think," he said, walking over to stand by Harry and looking straight at Mrs Weasley. "that I'll be the one to help Harry fix up that mirror now, if you don't mind Molly?"

Mrs Weasley nodded, and her face bore an understanding expression. She straightened herself up as she turned to face everyone, and clapped her hands briskly. "The rest of you can help me fix dinner."

Harry left the room to the Weasleys wails of slave labour, Lupin smiling alongside him. Like at the Dursleys, they walked in silence until they reached their destination, Harry's room.

When Lupin softly closed the door behind them, Harry was at a loss for words. Thankfully Lupin seemed to pick up on this and he went straight to business.

"Right." he said, pulling out his wand. "Where are all the little bits and pieces of this mirror that I'm supposed to put back together?"

With special care not to touch the sharp glass again, Harry showed Lupin the bottom of his trunk. For a moment, he thought he saw pain flash across Lupin's features, but when he blinked, thought he was mistaken when Lupin then faced him with a reassuring grin.

"Don't worry Harry," said Lupin. "This is easily fixed." Pointing his wand at the trunk, he clearly pronounced "_Reparo_" before the shards of glass resumed their original shape of the mirror. Lupin bent over and picked it up from the trunk, studying it thoughtfully.

Looking at the mirror in Lupin's hands, Harry suddenly felt dizzy, and he made his way over to his bed.

"Thanks." he found himself saying mechanically, as he shut his now burning eyes. He felt the bed tip a little, and knew that Lupin had sat beside him. Neither of them talked for a while, and Harry found he liked it better that way. The Weasleys and Hermione all felt that the more talk the better, asking how he was feeling, or if he needed anything. But this silence felt truer, nobody was lying to him about their or his feelings, and he didn't have to lie back.

"I lost count on how many times your father and Sirius used these mirrors at school," Lupin spoke suddenly, causing Harry's eyes to pop open. He continued on almost absently. "Though I do remember one particular time, when Sirius's face popped up in this particular mirror."

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously, shifting so he could lean his head onto the bed frame. This kind of talking he didn't mind, especially when it had to do with his parents or Sirius's past. After all, he didn't really know all that much about them.

Lupin chuckled, turning the mirror over and running his fingers over the initials that were engraved in it. He showed it to Harry. 'JP' was etched into it. 'Well, this was your father's mirror, and there was this one time when your father and your mother had started dating.' he began, settling himself comfortably on the bed. 'You see Lily - your mother, didn't really approve of James carrying the mirror on their dates … she said the thought of Sirius being able to watch and listen to their every move was nauseating …

"So, it was on one of these dates that James asked me to look after the mirror. What he and I didn't know, is that very same night, Sirius was walking around the castle in the hopes of pranking Filch … I was halfway through my defence book in the common room, when Sirius's face popped up in the mirror. He was looking distressed, and breathing quite heavily."

"Was he running from Filch?" interrupted Harry, grinning as he remembered some past incidents with the filthy caretaker.

"At first he was," Lupin replied, grinning in a boyish manner that reminded Harry of the boy Lupin he had seen in Snape's Pensieve. "But then it became someone worse."

"Who was it?" Harry enquired eagerly.

"Casey Connors from Ravenclaw." was the prompt reply. Catching the confused look on Harry's face, Lupin chuckled again. "No doubt you noticed in – Snape's memory, that Sirius was a rather popular guy with the ladies."

Harry snorted at that.

"Yes," Lupin coughed, "well Casey was one of his more AVID fans … Used to follow him around for hours, if I recall correctly. Not to her success though, as he was always surrounded by the rest of us Marauders … it was this night though, that she finally managed to catch him unawares outside Filch's office."

Harry gasped. "She didn't -?" he left it hanging, but Lupin obviously understood.

"She tried." Lupin smiled. "But Sirius led her on a great chase around the castle, until he managed to find a large enough cupboard for him to hide in. That's where he used the mirror to talk to me. That's where he hid for more than an hour before I could get to him, without Casey noticing."

Harry was laughing hysterically as Lupin finished retelling the story, and tears of laughter were streaming down his face. When both could finally regain their breath, Lupin said sombrely,

"I know you miss him Harry – I do as well - we all do."

Harry nodded mutely.

"But I know Sirius – and I know he wouldn't want us to dwell on all the bad and unfair things in life … including his death." Lupin finished.

"How can I not though?" said Harry, suddenly.

Lupin frowned. "What do you mean exactly?"

"How can I not think about Sirius all the time?" replied Harry, grimacing. "If it wasn't for me and my stupid hero complex, he'd still be alive."

Lupin sighed deeply and looked down at Sirius' mirror.

"Don't blame yourself Harry, especially when it wasn't your fault."

"It was though," Harry argued fiercely, pointing one finger at the mirror and blinking rapidly. "In more ways than one. I- I never used that mirror to find out if Sirius had been captured or not. I – went to the – the stupid Ministry and - got into trouble with the death eaters. If I hadn't gone there, you and Sirius and the Order wouldn't have had to come after me."

"Voldemort did this, not you," said Lupin, softly but determinedly. "He's done everything. You weren't responsible for your parent's death or Cedric's death either, Voldemort was – so you certainly were not for Sirius'."

"Whatever." Harry muttered, still not believing Lupin, but not wanting to hurt his feelings. Lupin sighed again, but didn't say anything else.

A few minutes later, a knock came at the door, and Ron's face came peeking through the doorway.

"Mum says for you two to come and eat dinner now.' he called softly. "Said you're both too close to wasting away to be able to skip any meals when she's around."

"Tell Molly we're coming in a minute." Lupin called back, grinning wryly, as he stood up and straightened his worn robes. Ron nodded, and after grinning at Harry, walked back downstairs, leaving the two alone again.

Nervously Harry stood up too, and hesitantly said, "Thank you – for – for everything Professor Lupin."

Lupin smiled and surprisingly embraced Harry in a one-arm hug, similar to that of Sirius's last Christmas. "It's no problem Harry."

Harry found himself smiling back and walked towards the door.

"And Harry?" Harry turned around at the sound of Lupin's voice. "Do call me Remus if you please. I'm no longer your professor, and we're close enough to use first names, don't you think?"

Nodding, Harry turned back wordlessly, smiling goofily as he and … Remus walked downstairs for dinner. The chat had definitely done him some good, and he had finally been able to hear the better side of his parents and Sirius. He could just imagine the look on Sirius's face as he hid in the cupboard, waiting nervously as a girl (who Harry visualised as looking like Millicent Bulstrode) strode past looking for him.

Sniggering, he helped himself to a large serving of Mrs Weasley's steaming shepherd's pie.

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**A/N: **Honestly, this has been my most favourite chapter to write. I hope you all like it, and that I get many, many reviews for it. _Please_. And even though there was no mention this chapter, the Daily Prophet article _will_ be in the next chapter. I promise!!****

As usual, thanks to the following reviewers:

**Mella deRanged: **Just wait til you read this chapter. You might just see Snape's reaction hint hint lol.

**PhoenixPadfoot89**: Thanks, and what Ron said was an understatement. Just read this chapter to find out!

**jeff: **lol, yep. Thanks for reviewing again.

**Flame-the-Phoenix:** Thank you for reviewing, and don't worry, I'm way ahead of you about overhearing the prophecy. You'll just have to read on to find out. I'm glad you noticed that little fact though. Lol.

**dragonsprincess: **Thanks for reviewing again, and the birthday wishes! I turned 18! Legal yay! I thought I would say that yes, Snape is going to have an absolute fit, lol. Sorry that the article won't be in this chapter. I know I keep on shifting it to another chapter, but seriously this chapter was long enough!! He he. I hope you enjoy it anyway. And luckily I'm getting over the writer's block! I've just got the problem of assignments to finish now!

**tears4sirius08:** Thank you for the lovely review. Don't worry I'll still keep on writing. I hope you keep on reading and reviewing!

**Westernshakespeares: **Before I thank you for reviewing, I also have to thank you for putting me on your favourite authors list!! Anyway, I'm glad you like my fic so far. You'll see more of Snape this chapter. For some reason, I always thought there isn't enough of Snape in the books, so I'm going to have him in my fic more. He is a rather difficult character, but he's so much fun to write. Hopefully I wrote him and continue to write him according to canon. Thanks again, and I hope you keep on reading. I really appreciate any input.

**Elf:** Thanks for the 3 reviews, and don't worry. I understand completely about computer's screwing up (and internet). Happens to me all the time!

**Chantelli:** Thank you for both of your reviews. I especially like the one involving chocolate and a fit. Lol. Nah, thanks, I hope you like this chapter too.


	6. Surprises Galore

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Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Hmm not much to say, except the long awaited Daily Prophet article will be making an appearance this chapter … along with some other surprises that I hope you haven't guessed yet. Oh and not much of Snape this chapter. Actually only one small mention. Sorry. There'll be more next chapter though.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Six**

_Surprises Galore___

Harry sleepily made his way downstairs the next morning, rubbing at his half-closed eyes. Walking into the dining room, he greeted everyone with a grunted, "Morning", before collapsing onto the nearest seat.

He was halfway through reaching for a piece of toast, before he realised that nobody had said anything. He lifted his eyes to everyone, furrowing his brows worriedly as he was met by seven pair of eyes that were staring straight back at him.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry, the remnants of sleep quickly draining away. A nightmare from last night suddenly reappeared in his mind and he forced back a gulp. What if something had happened?

Nothing was said to calm his fears. The twins only shifted their gaze down to the table where an unknown parchment was lying, and Ginny and Hermione looked at each other warily. Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he saw Mrs Weasley dabbing at her eyes with her apron, and Mr Weasley patting her on the back in a comforting manner. Panic tightened its hold on Harry's chest, and his mouth went dry as he anxiously turned to Ron for an answer.

"Nothings happened, has it?" he demanded frantically, but Ron shook his head and picked up the same parchment that the twins had been staring at.

"What?" exclaimed Harry, as Ron thrust the parchment into his hand. At a closer inspection, Harry realised it was the back part of that day's edition of the Daily Prophet. He quickly turned it around, fearing the worst, but as soon as he saw the front, he sighed in a mixture of realisation, relief and pain. "Oh."

A picture of Sirius was plastered onto the front page, along with the headline, 'MINISTRY BUNGLE WITH SIRIUS BLACK'S IMPRISONMENT, SAYS BOY-WHO-LIVED'.

"They wrote it." Harry breathed, reading through the newspaper article - _his_ newspaper article.

**_The Black family may have been a prestigious and well-known pureblooded family, but they were far from pleasant. They supported the same ideals that You-Know-Who was famous for. They hated all Muggles, Muggleborns, Muggle-lovers; the list goes on. Many of them died either following the Dark Lord or at the least following his same beliefs.___**

_**How do I know all this? Simple. Last summer I was told first-hand by my godfather. He knew everything there was about them because he was a Black himself, as much as he was loathed to admit it. For that I don't blame him.** ___

**_My godfather was Sirius Black, and no, you haven't read wrong. Harry Potter's godfather was the one and only escaped convict from Azkaban prison. I admit for the past two years, I have known his whereabouts; I've contacted him; hell, I even spent last Christmas with him.___**

_**But that's not a crime. I haven't been aiding and abetting a criminal as you may think, because he wasn't one. He was innocent for all the crimes against him, and I'm going to tell you exactly why and what happened all those years ago that wrongfully put him in prison, because it sure is about time that it was revealed.**_

_**It is a well-known fact that Sirius Black was a supposed follower of You-Know-Who, who killed a fellow wizard Peter Pettigrew and 12 other Muggles with one single curse. This, however, is not the whole story, as he wasn't a follower and he didn't kill anyone. It would probably be better to start from the beginning.**___

**_For seven years at Hogwarts, a tightly knit group of four boys became the closest of friends; Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Sirius Black. Together they formed their own little group called the Marauders. ___**

**_Even after school finished, the four continued to be friends. Sirius was best man at my parents' wedding, and then he was later named as my godfather. Then something unthinkable happened. Reports came in that there was a spy amongst the group - one who had been feeding Voldemort valuable information about the light side. It went on for about a year before my parents were forced to go under the Fidelius charm for their own safety. A Fidelius charm is where only a secret keeper knows a person or person's location. The secret keeper is the only one who can reveal their location, so this was a convenient charm to use at the time. Sirius Black was the obvious choice as secret keeper, and he kept people thinking it wasn't to be any other way. In an attempt to flush out who he thought was the spy and keep my parents and myself safe, Sirius secretly switched the secret keeper position over to Peter Pettigrew. At that time he thought Pettigrew wasn't the spy. He thought it was Remus.___**

**_This proved to be a mistake, and not even a week after the Fidelius charm had been performed, Sirius found out who the traitor and spy was. All along it was Peter Pettigrew. It was too late to do anything about it, however. By the time Sirius reached my parents house, both my parents were already dead, and I had just been plucked out of the wreckage by Rubeus Hagrid. ___**

_**Sirius was devastated, and furious. He managed to track down Pettigrew and confront him, but Pettigrew was too cunning. Using** **the Dark Arts that his master taught him, he cast a charm that exploded around him, killing those 12 Muggles. Amidst the confusion he cut off his finger and scurried away. **___

**_No one suspected him. How could they? Sirius was the only one standing there, and admittedly he had intentionally sought out to kill Pettigrew. There was no trial for Sirius or Veritaserum for him to speak the truth. He was sent straight to Azkaban for life. Twelve years he spent rotting away in prison until circumstances arose in my third year, which led him to believe that I was in danger from Pettigrew. He escaped and tried to save me from Pettigrew at the end of the school year. ___**

**_This is when I found out the truth about Sirius, and along with Sirius, Remus and my friends, I finally saw Pettigrew with my own eyes. He admitted to spying for You-Know-Who, but unfortunately managed to escape our clutches when Sirius was recaptured on the Hogwarts grounds. I didn't see Wormtail (a nickname for Pettigrew acquired from school) again until the Third Task at the end of my fourth year. Under the orders of You-Know-Who, he was the one that killed Cedric Diggory and brought You-Know-Who back to power. ___**

_**The next bit is too painful for me to recount again, so instead I am including parts of a letter that I wrote to Cornelius Fudge at the beginning of the summer. It must be said that Fudge previously knew about these events. Professor Dumbledore and myself had told him the truth on a numerous amount of occasions; each time ending in him denying it, just as he denied You-Know-Who's return. My letter was only a last ditch attempt to make him listen, so you may be shocked to read his reply to my letter, which I've also included.**_

Harry skimmed over the letters, and read on to what the Daily Prophet had to say.

_**After all this shocking evidence has come to light from the 'Boy Who Lived', one wonders how long it will take for Fudge to be removed from his position as Minister. Fudge refused to comment on the accusations made in the article, but other Ministry members had something to say about it.**_

**_"Yeah, Fudge knew all along the truth about that Sirius Black," one unnamed Ministry Auror said, "He received information about it all the time from Albus Dumbledore."___**

**_Another official present at the Ministry on the day of its attack also added, "Why, I heard Albus saying to Fudge's very own face that we'd been chasing the wrong man for twelve months."___**

**_Surely this shows that someone who has known about the unfortunate circumstances of Sirius Black and chosen to keep it quiet for so long should not be allowed to continue ruling our Ministry._ _That is the question that remains in the mind of the wizarding world and one grieving Harry Potter._**

As Harry had suspected, they'd published practically his whole article and the letter that Fudge sent to him. He leant back in his chair, still gripping the newspaper in his hands, but feeling immensely relieved that everybody would now know the truth about Sirius. The Daily Prophet seemed to be on his side for this at least and Fudge was definitely going to be in trouble for this scandal.

"It's all true then?" demanded Ron, who like everybody else had been closely watching Harry as he read the article.

"Of course it's true Ron." Harry snorted in amazement, snapping his head up to look back at Ron. "You already know - Sirius's story."

"No, he meant the fact that it was you that actually told this to the Daily Prophet," Hermione put in quickly.

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, yeah. I – at the Dursley's I – uh wrote it," he said lamely, taking a quick glance around everyone in the room. This wasn't quite the reaction he was hoping for. Instead of congratulating him on the article or at least acting happy that Sirius would have a chance at being declared innocent, everyone were still just sitting there in stunned silence. He began to feel a bit queasy, and doubts started to flicker in his mind. "Is there something wrong with what I did?" he asked hesitantly.

"NO!" Mrs Weasley proclaimed through her handkerchief, making Harry jump. She blew her nose loudly. "It was - just quite a shock for all of us."

Hermione added softly, "We didn't even have a clue that you would do something like that."

"I – I'm sorry for not telling you," said Harry, all of a sudden feeling guilty for keeping this from his friends. He hadn't considered the fact that his friends might have been hurt by not telling them. He'd just been so wrapped up in his own little plot for Sirius that he'd discarded what everyone else might have thought about it. "I wasn't really thinking of anything else except Sirius, I guess." he admitted.

"It's alright dear," replied Mrs Weasley, "We aren't angry with you. We're so – so-" she broke off sobbing. Wanting to disappear from sight completely, Harry looked at her in alarm. Crying women weren't his speciality. Cho was probably the perfect example, he thought back, cringing.

Luckily, Mrs Weasley eventually calmed down and what she said next made Harry's face redden considerably, "We're so very – very proud of you Harry … and we're sorry you have to go through – all – all of this."

Harry knew she didn't expect him to answer, but he hung his head down and quietly said, "Thank you Mrs Weasley."

Of course, it was Ron who broke the mood just then by saying, "Reckon you're the next Rita Skeeter."

Smiling lopsidedly, and glad for the change in atmosphere, Harry punched Ron lightly in the arm, and everybody laughed, even Mrs Weasley. After the laughter, he was congratulated on the article. The twins even started quoting back comments of Fudge from various witches and wizards in the editorial section of the Daily Prophet. One had even described Fudge's letter to be portraying an 'incompetent fool – something which we should have realised sooner.'

This was the reaction that Harry had expected, and he finally relaxed as he watched everyone chat excitedly amongst themselves. He hadn't realised until that moment how important their opinions were to him. Since Sirius's death, they were all he had left. Speaking of Sirius, Harry wondered what the only remaining Marauder thought of it, and suddenly realised that Remus and the other Order members – such as Tonks – that had stayed the night before weren't there at the table.

"Where's Remus, and Tonks and the others from the Order?" asked Harry, looking around at the empty seats. Extra plates had been set out, so Harry presumed that they'd be here by now. "Have they eaten already, or something?"

Another silence, but this time it seemed that only the two adults knew the answer. Hermione only gave a shrug, and Ron pulled a face.

"Remus was … asked for over at the Ministry to set a few things straight, and Tonks accompanied him," Mr Weasley replied finally, fondly de-attaching himself from his wife, and standing up, "Somewhere that I should be now actually."

He kissed Mrs Weasley, before saying his goodbyes and walking outside. Harry watched him go, wondering if Remus was at the Ministry to talk about Sirius. The uneasy feeling just returned in the pit of his stomach. He hoped he didn't get him or anyone else, like Dumbledore, in trouble over it. He'd done that way too many times lately.

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Lunch had many members of the Order joining Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys around the now magically enlarged dining table. Regardless of Ron and Hermione's reassurance that everything would be fine, Harry was still feeling apprehensive about the Order's reaction towards the article and to what happened with Remus. Unwanted thoughts kept on creeping into Harry's mind; ones where he would be met with disapproving stares. Snape's malevolent and hateful black eyes came to mind briefly, and Harry shuddered. He didn't think he could bear it if Remus or Dumbledore faced him with the same glare.

Therefore, Harry was, to say the least, surprised when he stood in the hallway to find that this lunch started like any other. Mundungus Fletcher could be seen gesturing wildly to the twins, Tonks was busy finding a desired hairstyle with Hermione and Ginny giggling her on, Kingsley and Moody were loudly discussing the principle of constant vigilance, Snape was grumbling in the corner, and Remus was …

"I see you didn't spend all your time escaping from the clutches of those Muggles, after all."

… standing directly behind him. Harry instinctively yelped in shock, but relaxed as Remus came to stand beside him. He smiled as Remus's comment sunk in.

"Yeah, I was running out of places to go … you know," joked Harry, although his eyes shone with sorrow. Remus placed a soothing hand on Harry's shoulder, and squeezed it gently.

"It was what Sirius always wanted Harry," said Remus, "I'm glad that his spirit can finally be put to rest, and others."

Harry coughed uncomfortably, but a small smile was unable to be repressed. Trust Remus to figure out his intentions. Suddenly, he found himself wanting to explain himself, pour out everything to someone who would hopefully understand him. His next words came out all in a rush, but he kept his voice low so nobody else could overhear him.

"I know it probably was wrong not to tell anyone," he began, "but I just wanted to – to make everyone see what he was – like." Harry paused at the understanding on Remus' face and he felt more confident in continuing. "At first I was just going to write to Fudge, but that moron sent me back that ridiculous letter, which practically tried to buy my silence, so then I just became so angry and I decided to send that letter and the whole story to the Daily Prophet." Harry took in a much-needed breath before adding in a calmer tone, "I'm sorry-"

But Remus waved him off. "No need to apologise." He said, then leaned closer to Harry as he added in a conspiratorial whisper, "Admittedly, I myself had slightly more irrational solutions to Fudge's incompetence." At Harry's stunned look, he laughed fondly and leant back. "The Marauder in me has yet to fade away."

"So you aren't angry at me for sending that article?" Harry asked finally.

Remus shook his head, "Of course not," he replied firmly. "No one is. In fact, Dumbledore was quite amused by it all and said he should have thought of that himself - actually, it has seemed to resolve many problems within the Ministry as well." he added thoughtfully.

Remus stopped abruptly, and Harry waited impatiently for him to continue on with this news. "And?" he urged on. "What kind of news? Why _did_ you have to go there this morning?"

"And," Remus smiled infuriatingly, "You'll find out soon enough."

Harry was about ready to protest at not being told, but it was then that Mr Weasley raised a full goblet of pumpkin juice and Harry reluctantly turned his attention to him.

"I would just like to say," Mr Weasley began loudly, "that thanks to Harry's – uh – unexpected article in the Daily Prophet, Sirius's name will be officially cleared and-" Mr Weasley broke off as he was answered by a loud roar, and twelve glasses of pumpkin juice being thrust into the air.

"Hear hear." Tonks was shouting enthusiastically, her glass of pumpkin juice slopping all over her robes as she waved it around.

Smiling, Mr Weasley continued on, "-_and_ Mr Cornelius Fudge will not be returning as Minister of Magic. He has officially been taken down as of today."

This was met by silence until Ron finally stuttered in amazement, "You mean Harry finally got rid of that git?"

Harry ignored Ron and turned accusingly to Remus, who was smiling in satisfaction. "That was the news?" Harry cried out, his eyes shining in happiness.

Remus nodded, accepting a glass of Firewhiskey from the twins. "They asked me in this morning to confirm the 'Boy-Who-Lived' 's extraordinary story."

"So they did actually believe me after all?"

"Why wouldn't they? As you most certainly know, the wizarding world have drastically changed their views on you and Dumbledore after finding out that you were both right about the return of Voldemort." replied Remus. He took a sip of the Firewhiskey and pulled a face before adding, "No one would even think of discrediting you again."

Harry thought for a moment, "So do you think if I told everyone that Snape was really a bloodsucking vampire, they'd believe me?" he asked, grinning evilly. He visualised members of the Ministry of Magic charging Snape with wooden stakes and necklaces of garlic, and choked back a laugh.

"Professor Snape," Remus corrected automatically, though his heart didn't seem to be in it, because he laughed anyway and said, "They probably would, and though I shouldn't be saying this, they probably think that already."

Harry snickered at the thought, and sipped at his pumpkin juice as Remus finished their conversation and joined Kingsley and Moody's continuing debate to stop Moody from pulling out his wand to demonstrate something. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ron discreetly accept a glass of Firewhiskey under the table from the twins. He caught George's wink, and ruefully shook his head.

"This could get ugly," mumbled Harry, through the corner of his mouth.

Sure enough,

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, YOU REMOVE THAT GLASS FROM YOUR LAP THIS INSTANT!"

"But _mum_," Ron protested indignantly, tightening his hold on the Firewhiskey. Harry stifled a grin. "It's only one drink, and I've been wanting to try one for _ages_."

"Better not, Ronniekins," interrupted George, cheekily downing one glass in clear sight of Ron. "Especially with Harry's condition."

"YOU TOO, GEORGE WEASLEY!" Mrs Weasley screeched, now directing her wrath onto George, "YOU MAY BE OF AGE NOW, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER ANYMORE. DON'T YOU FORGET THAT I USED TO BE THE ONE WHO CHANGED YOUR NAPPIES WHEN YOU WERE ONLY A RED, BARE BOTTOMED LITTLE BOY."

To the laughter of everyone else, George turned red, and hurriedly put the empty glass down on the table. Ron, however, was still stubbornly refusing to let go of his glass and had managed to raise it to his lips whilst Mrs Weasley yelled at George.

What happened next was still a mystery to everyone except Harry, Hermione and Mrs Weasley. It all just happened too fast. One moment Ron went to take a sip of the Firewhiskey, the next his face was completely covered with the stuff.

Watching Ron splutter indignantly, Harry only just managed to catch the brief nod of approval that Mrs Weasley gave to Hermione. His eyes widened, and he sent a questioning glance to Hermione, who gave a smug smile in return. He was later told that she had quickly pushed Ron's hand forward when he was too busy watching out for his mother.

"Really Ron, you're a prefect," said Hermione, handing Ron a tissue, which he gratefully accepted with a grunt. "You should be more responsible."

Ron pointedly ignored Hermione, not noticing the sly grin still planted on her face as he proceeded to wipe his entire face, except his mouth. Harry was surprised to see him emerge grinning, until he watched as Ron licked his lips.

"At least I got to taste a bit of it," whispered Ron, leaning over to Harry so that his mother was out of earshot.

* * *

"SURPRISE!"

Harry stopped midway through reaching into his pocket for his wand, and gaped in shock.

It was the next night and along with Ron, Harry had just entered the unusually dark dining room for dinner. To his definite surprise, the lights flickered on and he saw that the entire dining room had been transformed into a Gryffindor's paradise and Mrs Black worst nightmare; everything from the couches to the tapestry in the corner had been decorated in red and gold streamers and balloons. A large banner hung above the table stuck out the most, at times flashing 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY' then 'HARRY BIRTHDAY HAPPY!' No doubt the work of the twins, Harry laughed silently.

What was the most amazing were all the people who were standing in front of him. Everybody from the Order had turned up, even Professor Dumbledore. Professor Snape was present, though probably not by his own accord, according to where he was hiding sullenly.

"I- uh – what?" stuttered Harry. He was at a complete loss for words as he himself had even forgotten that it was his birthday. Due to Sirius' article being released at the time that it was, Harry had been distracted from what the next day would hold. The whole day had been spent celebrating Sirius' final declaration of innocence. There had, however, been a bitter sweet moment for Harry as he went to bed that night, thinking it had been too late for Sirius to enjoy.

But even if Harry _had_ remembered about his birthday yesterday, he never would have suspected anything like this happening – his first birthday party. He was absolutely overwhelmed. Without realising it, he began to grin idiotically.

"Didn't think we'd forget about your birthday, did you mate?" Ron bellowed, letting off a firecracker and ignoring his mum's protests.

"Considering I forgot about it, yeah." Harry replied wryly, grinning as he took another step inside. He looked around again at all the smiling faces. "I – don't know – what to say."

"Too bad." Fred chimed in, before starting to chant with George. "SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!" Soon everyone joined in the chant.

Harry flushed red, his hands trembling considerably as he tried to motion for them to all quiet down. When they finally did, Harry took a deep breath before saying shakily,

"I – I can't believe what you've all done for me here tonight … I don't know what I'm - meant to say or anything … Uh – I guess I want to thank you … I've never had a birthday party before, and it – it … just - thank you. It sure beats all my other birthdays."

The cheering grew louder, and Harry was guided over to the most decorated chair, where mounds of presents and birthday cards lay. He looked in amazement at these presents. They could almost rival Dudley's presents for once.

"These are all for me?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Who else would they be for, Harry?" replied Mrs Weasley, who was dabbing at her eyes with her apron again. She, like Harry, seemed to be overwhelmed at everything.

"But there's so many." Harry protested, picking up a nearby parcel. "Since when does Hannah Abbot give me a birthday present? Or …" he trailed off in amazement, "Justin Finch-Fletchley?"

"Well go on," Ron prompted, poking Harry in the back with a fake wand, shooting birthday confetti. "I wouldn't be complaining. Just open them up."

Harry grinned and tore open the first present, which was from Mr and Mrs Weasley. Predictably, he found himself in the possession of another sweater, this time in green with a large gold snitch knitted onto the front. Harry could see how much Fred and George were itching to yank it over his head like they had done with Percy one year, so he flashed them and Mrs Weasley a quick grin before pulling it over his baggy t-shirt.

"Thanks Mr and Mrs Weasley." he said, straightening the jumper out and inwardly laughing at the twins' disappointed faces.

Mrs Weasley looked quite pleased with herself and waved a hand dismissively. "It was nothing Harry."

Another predictable present was from the twins, which most obviously contained all of their most recent business attractions. Canary creams, skiving snackboxes, and their newest creation Bulging Butterscotch's were only a few that Harry spotted in the box. He would be looking forward to using them at school, he thought wickedly, giving the twins an equally wicked grin.

The next present to open was from Tonks and Moody. It was a step-to-step guide on how to become an Auror, which also included the names of all the Aurors in the past fifty years. Tonks had leant over as he flicked through the book, and whispered, "I think you'll find something particularly interesting for you in that."

Having no time to figure out what she had meant, other than the obvious fact that he wanted to become an Auror, Harry just looked quizzically at her, before being urged to turn to his other presents.

Hermione and Ginny's present was next, where they had combined their powers to get him an expensive wizarding watch. When he had thanked them, Hermione laughingly replied, "At least you won't have that excuse for being late to class anymore."

As usual, Ron's present for him was tied in with Ron's main interest … food. Sweets of all variety were packed into his present, especially Bertie's Every Flavour Beans.

Kingsley had gotten him a mini spy-glass, to "prevent any recurring incidents of last year". Harry frowned, automatically remembering Cho's sneak freak Marietta.

Hagrid, who wasn't there, hadn't given him a present, but a card with a very suspicious note in it.

_Harry,___

_ Can't give you your birthday present until you get back to school. Too heavy for Hedwig, so come see me when school starts.___

_Hagrid_

After reading it, Harry was perplexed and admittedly worried. What trouble was Hagrid going to cause now? He hurriedly shoved the letter into his pants pocket. No use worrying about it until then.

There were many other presents from students at the school that Harry opened, ranging from unmoveable football stickers from Dean, to a very thorough book explaining about corporeal Patronus charms from Susan Bones. He also received a year's free subscription of the Quibbler - added on from the month's free subscription he'd been sent at the beginning of the summer - from Luna Lovegood, and a framed article about Sirius from the Daily Prophet.

None however could compare to the next one he was about to receive.

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**A/N: **How was that? I thought I'd fit in two major surprises in the chapter. I know you were all expecting the article, but at least the birthday part was a surprise. (I hope). Oh and please comment on the article. Just remember that I tried to make it seem as though a 15 yr old boy was writing most of it though.

And you'll actually find out what these mysterious presents are next chapter. I was going to put it in with this chapter, but it would have become waaay too long, so I split it up into two. This chapter was way too long anyway. It was my longest yet … 4300 and something I think.

The next chapter shouldn't be as long in coming seeing as half of it is already written out. 'Diametrically Opposed' will be updated first though. I'm trying to keep to my promise of updating both in turn.

And thanks to the following reviewers:

**Mella deRanged:** Yep, don't you just love it!! lol. Thanks for reviewing again.

**PhoenixPadfoot89:** Thanks, those scenes were so fun to write, so I'm glad you enjoyed them.

**Ootp-rules:** Why thank you! You made me grin like an idiot after reading your review. I always aim to please oops there I go again. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you review again.

**ADJ:** lol, don't be sad. Here's another chapter to last you for a while … I hope. Thanks for reviewing.

**Jeff:** Yeah I know what you mean. That won't be happening in this fic. If (I'm not saying they will, cos that would be telling) they ever do become anything less than enemies, it will be gradual. Thanks for reviewing again!

**Amber16:** Thanks, and yes, in this story I am planning for Snape to be more occurrent throughout the plot. I've always believed there isn't enough of him in the books, so I'll be adding plenty of him. Also, I can't make any promises, but Snape might learn about Harry's true self further on in the story … maybe after they've settled into Hogwarts.

**Chantelli:** I know me too!! Actually this chapter and the next almost made me want to start bawling … because it reminded me that he's not ever coming back into the books. Anyway, thanks for reviewing again.

**John:** lol thanks again for another review!!

**Elf:** Thank you, and I hope you like this chapter as well!

**Tropic:** Thank you, and I hope that you enjoy reading their reactions this chapter!!

**Jaded Angel8:** Thanks and don't worry, I'll keep on updating until I finish the story!!

**Jaximillion:** Thanks for the review, but I'm afraid this chapter, you'll have to do without Snape. I hope there are still other things in this chapter that will catch your eye though.

**Dragonsprincess:** Thanks for another great review. I'm really hoping that this chapter will be sufficient enough for you. As for the whole tingling scar with Snape? Hmm, I'd gone over all the books, and I realised that when Snape's in a particularly bad mood with Harry, Harry's scar tingles a bit … so I decided to put it in. Usually if JK Rowling puts something in, it's going to mean something. I've got my own theory as to why this might happen, but I can't tell you too much because I'm planning on putting it into my story. You'll find out in a while!

**Kreuz:** Thank you very much. I hope this isn't too slow!! Keep on reviewing please.


	7. The continuance of a memorable birthday

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Ahhh! I am soooo sorry for taking so long to update this chapter. A MONTH! I can't believe it!! I had most of this chapter finished a week ago, the same time I updated my other story, but unfortunately my exams are coming up, and I had a whole pile of assignments to hand in.

In two and a half weeks time I should be finished with exams from uni and everything, so my updates will be more frequent from then on. That's when you can expect the next chapter as well.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Seven**

_The continuance of a memorable birthday_

When Harry finally came to an unlabelled box, he was surprised to hear Dumbledore speak up.

"Now Harry, that present you are holding is from me, and there is also another from Professor McGonagall, which we will give to you later," he stated unexpectedly, then smiled humorously, "And no, it is not socks."

Harry laughed and he couldn't contain his interest to what the small box held. After shaking it gently, he quickly tore the paper away, leaving a strange looking antique case. Tentatively, he flicked it open and gasped at the sight. Inside was an obviously expensive gold chain, with a detailed pendant of a phoenix hanging from it. The Phoenix was spread out in a flying position, its beautiful golden plumage glinting in the light, and its eyes were emphasised by two tiny green emeralds.

"It's – wow!" Harry said, pulling out the chain so that everyone could have a closer look at it. He turned to Dumbledore. "Can I – Is it really for me?"

Dumbledore nodded and helped Harry clasp it around his neck. It felt cool against his neck, and Harry looked down at it in wonder. Everyone else stepped back to admire it, and even Ron was speechless.

"Now Harry," said Dumbledore, gently, when Harry went to slip it underneath his t-shirt and out of view. "This isn't _just_ a necklace."

Harry's eyes shot up from his necklace at these words. "What else is it?" he asked nervously. What else was Dumbledore keeping from him?

Dumbledore stroked his long beard good mannerly, "It is also an inactive Portkey, signatured to you." he finally answered.

Harry frowned, not quite understanding. "Inactive?" he echoed doubtfully. He saw Hermione's eyes lighting up in realisation, and felt as though he was missing something. He turned to Dumbledore, hoping he'd continue on.

"Yes," replied Dumbledore, not disappointing him. "This year the Order and Hogwarts are going to take extra precautions for you. Should the need arise, such as if you are in any kind of danger, you can merely place your fingers onto the necklace and pronounce the words 'Phoenixa'. Your voice will then activate the necklace as a Portkey within five seconds and you will be transported straight onto Hogwarts grounds."

As Harry went to speak, Dumbledore warned, "It is to be used under extreme circumstances however, as it can only be used once and once only. The Ministry only allowed us to make it that way, lest you use it carelessly, which I have the utmost of confidence that you won't."

Harry heard the faintest of snorts coming from Snape's direction, but pointedly ignored it. Instead, he lightly ran his fingers over the necklace again, and smiled. At least this year he'd have a means to escape if Voldemort caught him other than his rather fortunate and probably almost run out luck.

"Thank you Professor." he replied simply, finding no other words to adequately express how much it truly meant to him. And it did. Being given this necklace showed how much Dumbledore did care for him, and it somehow lessened the pain of having so much kept from him all his life.

"Not at all," Dumbledore replied cheerily, "There is still more to come … Professor McGonagall's part of our present is one. Bring it in boys." he directed the last comment to the kitchen door, where Fred and George suddenly appeared.

Harry gave a cry of joy at what he saw in front of him.

"Here's your Firebolt, looking none the worse the wear if I do say so myself." said Fred, looking at George who was carrying Harry's Firebolt as if it was something sacred - which of course it was, to Harry.

"Quite right, Fred," George replied, stopping in front of Harry. "Here you go Capt'n." he said, holding out the broom for Harry to take.

Harry accepted it with a grin as he finally gripped it in his hands. The Firebolt was and would always be one of the most treasured of Harry's possessions, and one of the only links left to Sirius. So even though he had previously known about having it returned back to him and his ban dropped, Harry couldn't contain the bubble of excitement as he once again held it in his grip. Just think, only a month until he could fly it as well, and play Quidditch with Ron. He glanced quickly at Ron, smiling widely, and then back at his broom, until he realised something.

"Captain?" he echoed suddenly, feeling confused.

There was a chorus of groans. "GEORGE!"

George shrugged, turning to Harry. "Whoops."

Harry felt he had missed something. "Wait … captain?" he stammered, then looked in disbelief at Dumbledore. "I'm captain?"

Dumbledore nodded benignly. "As I was going to add, before Mr Weasley kindly interrupted-"

Mrs Weasley threw George a filthy look.

"-Professor McGonagall's part of the present was to inform you that she was able to get your life ban from Quidditch uplifted, your Firebolt returned and that you are now also the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain." Dumbledore finished.

Mouth working fruitlessly to form coherent words, Harry looked incredulously at Ron, who was grinning back at him.

"Why so surprised?" he replied, "Best seeker Hogwarts' had in 100 years. Y'think they wouldn't reward you for that?"

"But I'm no Wood," Harry protested, still in shock. "I thought Katie would get it. She's older and more experienced."

"-And completely addled in the brain from all those hits to the head," Fred added jokingly, "Sure she's great at Quidditch, but apart from being able to catch a ball, and knocking someone off their broom – _not that she ever intends to, of course Professor._" he added quickly, as though suddenly remembering Dumbledore's presence.

George continued on for Fred, who was busy flashing an innocent grin at Dumbledore, which fooled nobody. "Anyway, she isn't suited to being the one to give orders. She's better at following orders. If she was Captain, she'd just spend all her time devising ways to kill or maim the other team, not really winning."

Harry could only give a dazed nod in reply, as his eyes caught sight of a shiny, previously unseen captain badge pinned onto the back of his broom. He took it off, and with some prompting from Ron, pinned it onto his sweater. Being a Captain felt much more rewarding than a prefect would, Harry thought happily. Maybe this year would turn out alright after all.

"Just don't go all Angelina on me," pleaded Ron, shaking Harry out of his musings. "I never knew about Wood, but she sure scared the pants off of me."

Harry laughed loudly, and patted Ron on the back. "Not a chance, Ron," he reassured Ron confidently, and then tapped a finger onto his chin as if in deep thought. "Although - actually, we might have to double the practices, and I've been wanting to try a few new moves lately …"

After the laughter from Ron's horrified look died down, and more congratulations had been passed to Harry, Dumbledore leant over to whisper in Harry's ears. "Now I'm not too sure about this but I daresay there is one present left for you to open."

Harry looked around in confusion. Apart from the discarded wrappings, and opened presents, nothing else remained on the table. Was Dumbledore putting him on? He suspected so, but wasn't sure as he caught that maddening twinkle in Dumbledore's eye.

Before he was given the chance to suggest that Dumbledore might need stronger spectacles, Harry was tapped on the shoulder by Remus and motioned to draw away from everyone else. He did so, gesturing for everyone to continue on the party without him.

"This present was left behind by myself and – Sirius." Remus said softly when they were apart from everyone else. He handed Harry a rather haphazardly wrapped present and an envelope, which Harry accepted with a rather unflattering drop of his jaw. Dumbledore had been right, the sly old coot!

Remus continued on, "He – and I prepared your birthday present whilst he stayed here last year. It was to be from the both of us." he hesitated before adding, "He wrote a letter to you as well."

A thrill of foreboding shot through Harry as he stared at the package and envelope that now lay in his hands. It was from Sirius. He found himself silently repeating it to himself. Sirius had prepared a present for him before his birthday _before_ he fell through the veil … when he was still alive. Harry was dumbstruck, and completely floored at this. Would he be able to handle reading Sirius' letter? It was, after all written before his death. Would it be too hard to read about him?

After a few silent moments of torment, a loud bang echoed throughout the room and Harry jerked his head up to see the twins setting off some of their spectacular fireworks. He gave a watery smile at their antics and lifted his eyes to look at Remus again.

As usual Remus seemed to miss nothing, and he smiled down at Harry who nodded gratefully. His throat constricting painfully, Harry also managed a feeble but heartfelt thanks. Remus gave a nod and a reassuring pat on the back in return.

"I'll let you read it in peace shall I?" he guessed.

"Yeah … thanks." replied Harry, already looking for somewhere more isolated. He only vaguely noticed Remus move off to watch the fireworks shooting across the room. With shaking hands, Harry finally moved over to a secluded spot in the corner of the dining room to open the letter first. It was so painful to see Sirius's writing staring back at him, but he forced himself to read it. It was the last thing ever written by Sirius and he'd be damned if he'd never read it.

_Dear Harry,___

He read, drawing in a deep breath. He continued on.

_With all the free time I seem to be having lately in this godforsaken house, I decided to put it to some good use. Moony and I spent ages on this here gift for you, so I really hope you like it.___

_I'm sorry for not being there as your godfather for so many years. I know this present along with the Firebolt I gave you in 3rd year isn't going to make up for it, but I really hope you'll like it. I doubt those stupid Muggle relatives of yours will give you anything.___

_Lastly, I know we're coming into hard times now Harry, but I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you if you need me for something. Being your godfather is the important thing in my life right now, and I've loved the time we've spent with each other, especially over Christmas._

Harry's breathing seized up, and it took a while for him to compose himself to read the rest of the letter.

_You remind me so much of James sometimes, it's like going back twenty years. Sorry, I'm sure right now you're sick of hearing that, so I'll add that I know you aren't him; you're different, in a good way. I see it every day how much more stronger and courageous you are than your father. I sometimes forget that you were Lily's son as well; she was a lot like you too. Even stuck here in this place, I've never met somebody who is more selfless than you (anyone that can almost feel sorry for Snape has to be), and I want you to know that nothing that has happened so far or will happen is your fault. I know how torn up you were last year about that boy's death in the tournament, but you must understand that you're not behind all this. It is all Voldemort's doing, not yours. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Believe me, I've lived with enough guilt to know this._

_I have to finish this off quickly because that damn Kreacher is trying to steal one of my dearest mother's possessions. I think this time it's another filthy signet ring.___

_Anyway, all I have left to say is that there's no doubt in my mind that your father and mother would be proud of you if they were here. I know I am.___

_Happy 16th Birthday Harry ___

_Sirius_

As Harry folded back up the letter, he realised with a start that tears were streaming down his face. He hastily wiped them away in embarrassment, hoping that nobody had noticed.

Apart from Moody's magical eye, which seemed to linger on him a bit, thankfully nobody else had seemed to notice, as they were all too busy watching Fred and George's fireworks display.

Suddenly, clutching Sirius's letter tightly in one fist and the unopened present hugged to his chest, Harry didn't feel much like celebrating anymore. Without another word to anyone, he snuck away through the door, with the intent of climbing the stairs up to his and Ron's room, where he could open the present in private.

However, luck wasn't on his side and as he went to climb the stairs he bumped into Snape. Too tired to even scowl, Harry wearily stepped aside to let Snape through, hoping that Snape wouldn't notice his surely red eyes.

"Leaving your own party early, Potter?" Snape drawled, not moving away from Harry's path. "I thought you liked all the attention?"

Harry stifled a sigh. "If I liked all the attention, I'd still be in there, sir." he replied quietly, his arms protectively tightening around Remus and Sirius' present. He saw Snape shift his eyes down to the wrapped gift, but was surprised when he didn't comment on it.

"Perhaps you were thinking of making another dramatic entrance." Snape replied unpleasantly, "By my account, I doubt the last one was up to your usual arrogant standards."

"No I suppose you don't." Harry mumbled dejectedly. He couldn't be bothered to snipe at Snape tonight. Tonight was his birthday, and he longed to spend it looking at Sirius' gift, not celebrating like he had no care in the world, or having all the attention placed on him like it always was when he went into the public. Tonight he didn't want to be Harry Potter, the bloody boy-who-lived. Tonight he wanted to be just Harry, godson of Sirius Black.

It was just too bad that Snape wouldn't move, so Harry tried to just ignore Snape and leave his presence before the tears started to fall again.

Snape seemed not at all amused when Harry brushed past him, and he called out harshly, "Where's your Gryffindor courage gone, boy?" he stopped and sneered distastefully, "Or actually Potter, where's your _father's_ famous courage gone? You're supposed to be well known for it, aren't you?"

Slowly, Harry turned around, and his emerald eyes were sharply fixed on Snape.

"Can't you forget about the past for just one night?" he asked, before stiffly walking up the stairs. He only caught a momentary glimpse of Snape's face as he reached the top of the stairs, and what he did see made him blink twice.

For once, the usual scowl had been wiped off the face, and his black eyes had softened just enough for the creases on his forehead to disappear. It was the most human expression that Harry had ever seen on the emotionless Potions master.

If Harry had been in his right mind, it also would have struck him as unusual that Professor Snape had not uttered one word of negativity about Sirius or his letter to the Daily Prophet.

He wasn't though, so with his head down as he continued along the hallway, Harry finally retreated to his room, and locked it from the inside. He doubted anyone would come up anytime soon, but he made sure nonetheless.

Feeling a slight trickle of dread, Harry placed Sirius' letter on his bedside table and lay the present in his lap. From it's appearance and what it had felt like when he had carried it upstairs, Harry guessed it was another set of books on defence. Therefore, he wasn't immensely surprised when he opened the present to find two books on top of one another.

He was when he read the title on the top book though. Gaping in astonishment, he rubbed his fingers over the title of the well-worn book.

_'The Animagus In You' by Meladine Cartory_

Did this mean – were they suggesting - could he possibly be allowed to become an Animagus? Harry thought it was too unbelievable to be true.

For a while Harry just sat there with his mouth wide open, but then his senses returned to him and he pulled out the other, thicker book laying underneath. This book had no title, so Harry simply decided to open it. To his surprise the book remained shut, almost as if the pages had all been glued together. He tried to prise it open with his hands again, but to no avail.

Scowling, Harry turned back to the Animagi book and almost cursed aloud at his stupidity. On the front was taped another folded letter … one which he had completely missed before. Harry recognised Remus' cursive writing, and began to read it.

_Harry, ___

_Sirius and I knew how important it was for you to know things about your parents, so what better way than digging up the Marauders' old Animagi book to follow in your father's footsteps.___

_Don't worry, Sirius and I had previously checked it out with Dumbledore and McGonagall, and they promised to help you out, if you're willing to. We'd even managed to rope Professor Snape into helping out with the potion side of things.___

_I thought that I'd also like to leave it up to you to determine whether or not Hermione and Ron can be told. I know how things are with you three, so it's all right if you want to tell them. Just keep it a secret from everyone else. It pays to have an advantage on Voldemort, as I'm sure you'll know.___

_That's not all though. I'm sure your wondering about the untitled (and locked book - completely Sirius's idea by the way). This just isn't a book; it's a diary, a journal of sorts. Apart from information and their progression of becoming Animagi, it also includes the Marauders' old letters, notes, etc, that we collected from Sirius's, your father's and my belongings. We thought it might recapture your father's personality, and show he isn't just what you saw in Professor Snape's memory. To open it, you must recite a ... certain password.___

_And lastly, I don't intend on filling Sirius's gap in your life Harry. I know how important he was to you, and I would never consider taking that away from you. However, if it's all right, I thought maybe we could keep correspondence with Sirius's mirrors as I found his mirror in his room the other day. I just want you to know that I'll be there for you if you need someone to lean on; tough times are upon us so don't hesitate to contact me whenever you want.___

_Happy Birthday Harry!___

_Remus___

Harry whooped with joy and practically tossed Remus' note in the air as he jumped up in excitement. He couldn't believe what Remus and - he gave a painful gulp - Sirius had done for him. He would become an Animagi just like his father and Sirius, _and_ he'd be able to do it using the very same books that they used and wrote in. It was absolutely incredible to have in his hands, pieces of their very own lives.

He sat back down quickly, deciding to open up the diary. There was no doubt in his mind to what password the book would open to now. Pulling out his wand from his pant's pocket, he confidently pointed it at the book and recited, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

The book opened with a snap and Harry was faced with the front page. He eagerly began to flick through the book, reading journal entries, Animagi attempts and past notes written to each other in class. He laughed at one note in particular, that was pasted into the book; his father and Sirius had written to each other one day.

_"NAH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY AT LEAST SHE DIDN'T READ THE NOTE_." Sirius wrote.

Harry could only assume from what Sirius and Remus said that this next bit was his father's writing, "_I RECKON. THE OLD BAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE IN A GOOD MOOD TODAY, AND IF SHE SAW THAT NOTE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN HIPPOGRIFF DUNG. I WONDER WHAT'S UP WITH HER TODAY. MAYBE SHE GOT TURNED DOWN FOR TH-"___

According to Sirius and Remus, the old bat his father had been referring to was Hogwarts very own Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, who had unfortunately caught James in the very act of writing the note.

"That's worse than what happened with her in first year," Harry laughed, remembering back to his and Ron's first proper encounter with their Animagus teacher.

Harry spent the next few hours taking in every little detail of the book. He was engrossed so much that he missed Ron's first cries to unlock the door. It wasn't until after five minutes of frantic knocking on Ron's part, that Harry was alerted of Ron's presence and sheepishly let him in.

"Sorry mate." Harry apologised. Ron came in with an annoyed grunt but didn't say anything about it. Instead he asked why Harry had disappeared from his party for all this time.

"To open Remus and – Sirius' present." replied Harry, going back to sit down on his bed. Ron followed close behind, looking at the books on the bed.

"From Sirius?" Ron repeated warily. He looked as though Harry had gone crazy.

Harry nodded absently, his mind still on the books, "Yeah … they got it ready for me just after Christmas."

"What is it?" This time Ron seemed genuinely interested.

Harry made a split second decision and handed Ron the Animagus book and Remus' letter, watching in satisfaction as Ron's face flush in excitement.

"Bloody hell," breathed Ron, making Harry grin. "You're allowed to become an Animagus …" he stopped then added quickly, "You think me and 'Mione can become ones too."

"I don't see why not," Harry answered immediately, and he meant it. He no longer had the urge to keep everything from Ron and Hermione. He was already keeping enough secrets to last a lifetime. "Remus never said anything about not allowing you to join me."

"Wow," said Ron, then reread the letter, "Hang on - so this other book's their journal."

"Yep," said Harry, proudly. "This includes all the official Marauders' stuff … excluding that traitor Wormtail's though." he added menacingly. "They left everything of his out." And Harry wasn't the least bit regretful about that.

Ron gulped, "Can I – take a look at it with you?" he asked unsurely.

Smiling, Harry shifted to allow Ron to sit beside him. "Sure." He held the book in front of them, and Harry proceeded to proudly point out all the little bits and pieces that he had already combed through.

Soon after, Hermione too came to join them and Harry eagerly repeated it all to Hermione.

He would never tire of talking about his parents and Sirius.

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**A/N:** I know this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I thought I'd leave it at a relatively good point … otherwise there would have been another 'evil' cliffy, lol. I also just realised that my story has had a lot of letters and whatnot. I guarantee that there won't be anymore for a while! Ooh and the mention of James and Sirius's note is also from my other story. Just thought I'd add that.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and please _please_ review to tell me what you think!

As usual, thanks goes to **Tropic, KreuZ, SARA, Arin** and **Lishel Fracrium **for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Jaded Angel8:** lol, yeah sorry about the evil cliffy. This chapter doesn't have one, so you should be pleased! Thanks for reviewing!

**PhoenixPadfoot89:** Driving you crazy? Hmmm … are you crazy yet? It's taken me that long to update, I'm sure you probably are by now. Lol. Sorry, and thanks for reviewing.

**dragonsprincess:** Yay, I'm glad you liked the article. Was it worth the wait? Oh and I did try the whole animagi thing in the article, but it worked better without it. Mainly because I thought some things are better left secret. Thanks for reviewing again, but I can't guarantee one of the presents will be from Snape. Read on to find out though.

**Jaximillion:** Yeah there was a bit of Snape. There's a bit more this chapter, so hopefully you'll like it! Thanks for reviewing.

**zorro x:** Yes, I think I have to agree with you about Harry finally using his fame for something, and I'm glad you thought it was in his character! Oh and you'll find out the mysterious presents this chapter (obviously), and thanks for reviewing!

**BferBear:** I like your reason for why he got in, but I also got the impression that though Malfoy's an utter git, he is indeed fairly smart. So I just think that Harry got in to the class because of McGonagall's stubbornness! Anyway, thanks for reviewing.

**Ootp-rules:** lol, I loved your review! Now that was an original review! Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I am very, very much honoured that I am the only author to make you laugh. This chapter isn't too funny (at least I don't think so), so you won't have to worry about spilling your cup of tea! Thanks for reviewing and I hope that you continue to, because you made my day!!

**John:** he he … uh sorry, lol. I didn't mean to be so evil, and I hope you're still around to read this new chapter. Thanks for reviewing again by the way.

**Chantelli:** Oh well when he was writing the letter he wasn't quite 16. That's what I meant, lol. Sorry about the confusion, and thanks for another review! I hope that house elf is still up for grabs, even though I've taken so long to update.

**Mikee:** Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you have enjoyed reading it, and I hope you continue to do so … who knows, maybe Harry will get a potions book from Snape … lol, then again maybe not.

**Facade1:** lol, well at least you found the fic! I'm happy you got that far, AND reviewed! Thanks for that by the way. Oh and also, nobody really ponders how Peter got away, because they just assume he used Dark Arts. Same reason why they thought Sirius was supposedly able to kill all those muggles, if you know what I mean.


	8. Unwanted

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **Well I wasn't going to update for another few days, but last night I became sick and have been stuck in bed ever since, which may I add is driving me nuts!! Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I've had exams up until end of last week, and then I had to update my other story. And another thing, I have started a yahoo group for my stories, where I'll post all my chapters of both stories, answer any questions, and post snippets of future chapters to soften the blow of waiting so long, lol. Anyway, the address is on my bio page. I'd love for people to join. It's always refreshing to talk to people who have read either one of my stories.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Eight**

_Unwanted_

The next two weeks passed relatively fast and uneventful in Harry's opinion, with little to do but clean the house and read up on the upcoming year's subjects at Hermione's insistence of course. Sirius's name had been officially cleared by the Ministry of Magic in the second week, but as Harry was stuck at the Headquarters, nothing further happened.

Harry still experienced the odd nightmare of Sirius or his parents, but waking up in the same room as Ron and listening to his rhythmic snores usually lolled him into a relaxing and secure state of mind. As much as Voldemort wished to see Harry break, Harry wouldn't allow it … not when he still had his friends by his side.

With this determined attitude, Harry carried on with his life with as much normality as possible. There were times, however, when this attitude wavered, especially one afternoon one week before school was to start, when he was called down to the dining room for some kind of a meeting with Remus. The night before when he had asked Harry to come to him a few hours after lunch, Remus had sounded alarmingly serious, so when Harry slowly walked downstairs that afternoon, he was feeling quite disturbed.

Even more so when he walked into the dining room to find Remus, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Dumbledore and Snape all sitting around the Order Headquarters table.

He cleared his throat as he entered and all their heads shot over to look at him. "What have I done now?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing," Remus reassured him quickly, before eyeing Dumbledore who motioned for Harry to sit down beside Mrs Weasley. He did so, but not after frowning slightly at the seriousness of their expressions.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

He could see that Remus was hesitant, and that Mr Weasley was rather blatantly avoiding his eyes. The only person looking at him directly was Snape, who was scowling as usual. So all in all, nothing too reassuring.

Dumbledore was the first to speak, and Harry turned all his attention to him.

"Harry," he began softly. "Now that Sirius' name has finally been cleared, there are some matters, which need to be discussed."

"Like what?" Harry was confused, and he frowned again. What were they all going on about?

This time Mr Weasley spoke up and he smiled, albeit nervously. "You see Harry," he said, "before Sirius … died, he made a will. Up until now that will was invalid as all his possessions were supposedly claimed by the Ministry. However," and Mr Weasley took out a parchment from his old carry bag that was lying by his feet.

"However, now that his name has finally been cleared, that Will has now been validated."

"So?" interrupted Harry slowly, finding his eyes unwillingly glued to the parchment. "What's that got to do with me?"

Arthur unrolled the parchment with no ceremony and cleared his throat.

"_I, Sirius Black_," he recited, "_do hereby relinquish on the event of my death, my family house, 12 Grimmauld Place and a third of my fortune in vault 713 to my godson Harry James Potter. The other two thirds of vault 713 I bequeath to my second cousin Arthur Weasley, and to my dear friend, Mr Remus J. Lupin; the latter I also include any personal belongings remaining in the Ministry of Magic's possession."_

He stopped, and everyone turned to look at Harry, who was now determinedly studying the table in front of him.

"Harry?"

The voice made Harry snap his head up in sudden anger, and his eyes were flashing.

"What do you want me to say?" he demanded, clenching his fists as he stared at no one in particular. "That I'm happy that I get this hellhole that Sirius hated? That I get _more_ money?"

He continued on spitefully, not watching as everyone stared at him in alarm. "All I ever get is inheritances from _dead_ people. You think I want that?

"Here's your dead parents fortune Harry. They died to save you, but I'm sure they won't mind if you take all their money … Why not take Cedric's prize money Harry? He's not gonna be able to get it anytime soon." He stopped to take a deep breath, and he looked straight down at the table again, taking care not to catch Remus's eye.

"And now this? You think I'm happy that I've inherited half his fortune and this stupid house. You think it makes up for him being dead? It was partly my fault that he's not even here, and after all that, you want to me take his money?"

Lupin sighed. "It's not your fault he died Harry." he replied softly, but firmly. "I've told you that already."

"Oh yeah?" Harry challenged furiously, white hot anger forming in his chest, making it ache so much that he felt like exploding. "So he didn't die because he followed me into the Department of Mysteries. It wasn't my fault that I led him right to the death eaters and Bellatrix. Ask _Professor _Snape, he'll agree with me." He tossed that last sentence to Snape, with a distasteful sneer.

His arms crossed over his chest, Snape glared back at Harry in return, and opened his mouth to most likely agree.

"Remus is right Harry." said Dumbledore, deftly cutting Snape off from any scathing comments with a meaningful glare that Harry didn't miss. Snape leaned back into his chair with a low growl but shut his mouth with a reluctant snap. "We went through this last year in my office. There were unfortunate circumstances that we _all_ were fooled into, not just you."

Harry wasn't reassured in the slightest. "Then tell me, there must be one person whose mostly at fault here. Who is it if it isn't me? Is it you? Tonks? Professor Moody's? Or lets go out on a limb here. Could it be the Department of Mysteries for having that veil there in the first place? I mean after all, they should have known that we'd be there. Where's Trelawney when you needed her, hey?" A bitter chuckle, and he bit his lip at how heartless he sounded. "You know, maybe there should have even been a guard on the veil or something … A Sirius-proof lock perhaps?"

Harry knew he was babbling, but he was beyond caring. Tears of frustration were threatening to spill any moment now, and the ache in his chest was so strong it was making breathing difficult.

"Be reasonable Harry." Remus said softly.

Harry exploded. "I am being reasonable! I don't want any money or property or whatever else there is. The only things I want I can never have, and nothing, NOTHING will ever change that." Harry rose up abruptly, intending to walk back upstairs. He just couldn't handle anything anymore, and he wanted to be alone. Alone where he could just pretend that for one heartbreaking moment, Sirius was still there with him, and that they lived together in this house just as they had planned back in third year.

"Harry please." Mrs Weasley begged, pulling Harry out of his fantasy. She was in tears, desperately trying to grasp onto Harry's jumper, but he ignored it, pulling away.

"When you see Sirius or my parents … when you can bring my _family_ back to life … then I'll listen. Anything else – I don't want it. Give it to somebody else. I don't need any stupid money or this house. I – I've had enough."

Walking away, he eventually stopped at the base of the stairs and waved his arms around, gesturing to the house.

_"This_ doesn't mean anything to me." With a whisper he added in anguish. "Not without him in it."

Nobody stopped him as he rushed upstairs and he didn't stop either, apart from a well-timed punch at Mrs Black's portrait as she started screaming again. By the time he reached his room, the tears had dried up, and he was left feeling unnaturally hollow, with only the dull ache of his chest reminding him that he still lived.

He ignored Ron as he walked into the room, and rolled over onto his bed with the pillow over his face. Why must there always be some sort of problem in his life that will make him come crashing back into the ground, like he had pulled up too late from a Wronskei Feint?

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Harry spent the next few days alternately locked up in his and Sirius' old room, careful to avoid contact with anyone else. The pain of finding out about the will had dwindled, and Harry began to feel ashamed at how he had yet again lost control of his emotions.

He began to wonder in that time if Voldemort could feel his emotions, like he did when Voldemort was particularly angry or happy. Harry hoped he did, hoped he could feel the pain and torment that Harry had to go through every day, for the rest of his life.

His dreams in those past few days weren't helping things much either. Just the night before, he had dreamt about Sirius again … watched him fall through the veil … but this time he was screaming and pleading to let him come back to Harry … even after he had fallen through, Harry could hear the whispers of agony …

Not even looking through Sirius's present or photo album helped him feel any better. They were just material possessions, and he had way too many of them now; he just wanted the real thing back.

"Lunch is ready." Hermione's voice suddenly came through his door and Harry reluctantly opened it to face her.

"I'm not hungry." he mumbled, before going to close it again. Hermione stopped the door with her foot as his stomach suddenly betrayed him with a low growl.

"Your stomach begs to differ," Hermione remarked dryly, grabbing a hold of Harry's arm to steer him out of the room. She began talking a mile-a-minute as they walked downstairs, and Harry forced himself to listen.

"Look I know you – you've gone through a lot, and obviously whatever happened the other day must have got you upset, but you shouldn't neglect yourself like this." She stopped to give Harry's body a look over, and then frowned. "You look as bad as you did when you first came here." she said bluntly, still pulling him until they reached the dining room door.

Here she let g, and Harry was tempted to back away, until he was dissuaded by a glare from Hermione. He gave in with a sigh, and sat down beside Ron who gave him a small smile. Hermione sat on the other side of Ron with a satisfied smile on her face and Harry saw her nod briefly to Remus who was just about to sit down himself. Harry quickly turned to Ron again.

"How are you feeling mate?" asked Ron, passing him a plate. "We've been missing you these past couple of days, and mum's been on the rampage with you not coming to any meals and all."

Harry accepted it with a soft thanks, and placed it down onto the table. He looked down at it for a few moments before looking back up at Ron.

"Not too good, but I'll live," Harry almost winced as he said this, and he cleared his throat. "Sorry for ignoring you, I've just –"

But Ron waved him off. "I know. I wouldn't have any idea on how you feel at the moment, so I don't blame you for leaving me all alone with Hermione _and_ Ginny for the past two days." He emphasised the 'and', as Ginny and Hermione began giggling wildly with Tonks over something.

Ron leant over at that and whispered, "Now _they're_ the ones who've been driving me nuts."

Harry took a few spoonfuls of mashed potato. "Where were the twins?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

"At their shop," Ron grumbled. "They had a fight with mum the other night over their application to be inducted into the Order-"

"-Oh they finally did it?" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah, and mum's not too pleased about it. She doesn't want any more of us in the Order, and she's trying to force that opinion onto us." Ron shuddered. "Another reason for the mood she's in, and I can tell you now, it's not pretty."

Harry couldn't help it; he laughed. "Are they gonna let Fred and George in though?"

"Seems that way, but we won't find out until we get to Hogwarts," answered Ron, "The next Order meeting isn't until the night we return back to Hogwarts, and I suppose Fred and George will try and owl us."

Nodding, Harry returned to his meal, and surprisingly ate a larger serving that could almost rival Ron's for once. He and Ron talked for a while more, catching up on all the little things Ron had heard with the Extendable Ears, and after lunch he joined in with a few games with Ginny, Hermione and Ron, who never once mentioned his recent absence.

It was good to have friends like those, Harry thought, as the next couple of days flew past quickly.

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The night before they were to return to Hogwarts, everyone was in a frenzy.

On Hermione's orders, Harry and Ron had spent half their day organising their trunks until she and Mrs Weasley were satisfied with them, so at first everything seemed to be in order. Unfortunately, just before dinner, when Harry and Ron were about to walk downstairs, a loud bang erupted in their bedroom. Smoke began to pour from the cracks at the bottom of the door, and without looking twice at each other, Harry and Ron had pulled out their wands and stormed back into their room.

What met them had been an unmitigated disaster area; Ron's carefully folded clothes were flung across the room, along with books, and quills and so on. At the very centre of the disaster was his open, and smoking trunk. It turned out that before leaving, the twins had given Ron a new prank item of theirs, _Smoking sticks._ Unfortunately, they'd forgotten to mention they'd hadn't been tested yet, and they had untimely blown up in his trunk.

There had been a long-winded speech on Mrs Weasley's part before Ron was made to repack his trunk, which Harry had helped him with. So by the time dinner was ready for everyone to ear, it was quite late.

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It was halfway through eating dinner when a bout of weariness hit Harry and after taking a few bites of his meat casserole, he felt like he could no longer stay awake. His head was throbbing and his hands had even begun to shake uncontrollably, but luckily his scar didn't seem to be the cause of it.

Must be all of that packing Hermione had them doing today, Harry thought, pushing his plate of food away. In an attempt to disguise his weariness, he slowly stretched, before standing up. Remus, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, was watching him closely, and he smiled reassuringly at him. The day before he had bumped into Remus after successfully avoiding him for almost a week, and he had apologised and had a long talk about Sirius. They'd talked for hours, and Harry was finally convinced that he was not solely to blame for Sirius's death and that Sirius wouldn't want him to mope around for the rest of his life, blaming himself for everything that went wrong in the world. It had made him feel better about dealing with the whole situation and it had made himself silently promise not to be so childish about it anymore.

Harry looked away from Remus, and surprisingly caught Snape looking at him too with an undecipherable expression on his face. As Snape jerked his gaze away, Harry realised with newfound curiosity that Snape had been watching him more lately … ever since he'd broken down over the will - no actually … ever since his birthday party.

"I think I'm just gonna go lie down again for a while Ron." said Harry, breaking his thoughts of Snape, whilst he watched Ron down his second helping. "Got a bit of a headache."

Ron nodded in reply, but after swallowing he whispered anxiously, "It's not a scar-ache though, is it?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that. Just a normal headache." He stopped then added wryly. "For once."

As he turned towards the staircase he almost toppled over from tiredness and had to steady himself slightly on the wall before continuing upstairs. Thankfully he made it up alright, with only a few mishaps and eventually collapsed onto his bed, not bothering to go under the covers.

He should have known that it was all too easy for him to get to sleep, when all the other nights it had taken him over an hour of uneasy tossing and turning. If he had, he would have tried with all his might to keep himself awake ...

_He was sitting in a semi-dark room, which was filled with a low hissing noise, but one, which he could understand._

_"Hush, Nagini." he hissed, reaching out with his long white fingers to stroke the large snake that had wrapped itself around his ankles._

_"I waaant blood, massssster." Nagini hissed back, her voice laced with obvious desire._

_"Not long now." he crooned back lovingly. "They're bringing you some fresssh meat ssssoon."_

_A tentative knock suddenly interrupted their conversation, and as Harry raised an arm imperiously, the door opened without a sound to reveal three death eaters dragging along something large._

_He smiled, and beckoned for them to come closer. The death eaters slowly walked in, and bent forward to kiss the hem of his robes. The third death eater rose up again and pulled off her mask. It was one of his most loyal followers, Bellatrix Lestrange. A rage he could not quite place suddenly rose into his mind, but disappeared as quickly as it came._

_"Ahh Bellatrix. You have finally managed to comply with my wishes." He drawled, motioning towards the unmoving lump in front of him._

_"Yes Master." she whispered, bowing again. "As you wished, he is not dead yet."_

_"Good," he breathed before standing up and reaching the body of the man he had been searching for. He flicked his wand casually towards the man and kept his wand trained down at him. "Enervate." The man's eyes opened and he flinched back when he caught sight of Harry's face before him._

_"So, you think to have hidden yourself completely from me, did you?" Harry asked coldly, his loud voice emitting a strange set of echoes around the room. "Did you not think that the Dark Lord would find you wherever you were?"_

_"No Master," the pitiful man on the ground gasped, hanging onto Harry's robes in fear. "I- I've been trying to – to help you."_

_"And how is that Karkaroff?" Harry asked, his long, white and pointy fingers still holding his wand directly at Karkaroff, for that was who it was._

_"I've tried to find the – the green flame torch – for you, my Lord." He cried desperately._

_Harry remained unmoved, but he gestured for the other Death eaters to stand back._

_"And what have you found?"_

_"It's hidden – where I – I do not – know exactly-" Harry raised his wand again, Nagini hissing menacingly alongside him._

_"No, wait." Karkaroff begged, tears running down his face. "I can help you – figure out where it is. I can help you find out how – how to use it. Please don't – ki – kill me."_

_"Indeed?" whispered Harry. "Who are you to ask that I spare your life? … you betrayed me … you deserve to die."_

_"No, no please."_

_For a long while Harry stood, watching Karkaroff's prostrated form in front of him with pleasure._

_"Very well," said Harry, finally moving to sit down on his chair again. "I will spare your life for now."_

_Karkaroff moaned in relief and began to thank him profusely, but mid-way he was interrupted as Harry continued on,_

_"However… this cannot go by unpunished … you displease me … and my Nagini … for yet another meal of hers has been denied to her."_

_Harry paused, watching for a few moments as Karkaroff stiffened in fear. Finally he said cruelly, "Crucio."_

_Amidst Harry's cold, heartless laughter from watching Karkaroff twitching on the floor, a searing pain began to burn deep within his head. He, himself began to scream in raw agony, his fingers clawing desperately at his forehead…_

Harry woke up to two hands shaking him desperately, and as he began to drift to consciousness he became aware of loud screaming … realising all too late that it came from him. The pain had never been so intense in a vision before … it felt as though he was being possessed again … that his scar had split open … and to his shame, he could at some level, still feel Voldemort's exhilaration at torturing Karkaroff.

He involuntarily shuddered in pain, his eyes too watery and blurry to see who had woken him from the nightmare.

"Harry." He could hear faintly. The voice continued on as his glasses were placed carefully on his face. "Harry, come on. You've got to wake up."

With all his strength, Harry blinked again, and he was able to see who had been shaking him. It was Remus, and alongside him were Tonks, Ron and Snape. The shapes went in and out of focus, and a feeling of nausea suddenly began to rise up to his throat.

"Harry, look at me." Remus was saying. "Don't fall back asleep."

"Karooof" Harry managed to croak desperately, the pain in his scar so intense that it momentarily caused his breathing to seize up. He coughed in between gasps for breath.

"No, don't speak Harry." Tonks hushed, placing a finger to her own lips to indicate for him to stay quiet. "Just breathe."

As Harry regained his breath, the nausea hit full force and he struggled to open his mouth again to warn them.

"Sick." he rasped, one hand still gripping his scar, and the other moving to cover his mouth. A bucket was immediately conjured in front of Harry, and he retched in pain.

This continued on and off for another few minutes, before Harry almost dropped his head into the bucket in exhaustion. Eyes firmly closed shut, his head was gently guided towards his pillow again, and he groaned as another pain shot through his scar. He gritted his teeth. Seemingly, Karkaroff was continuing to be punished for his desertion.

The pain stopped soon after, and Harry couldn't help but sigh in relief as his muscles began to relax, and he was able to open his eyes again.

He took a quick glance at the people gathered around him, as the mist seemed to dissipate from his eyes, and he realised with embarrassment that he must have interrupted them from their dinner. It mustn't have been a long dream then, Harry thought. Strange, it felt like hours had passed, staying in Voldemort's disgusting body.

"Sorry," mumbled Harry, rubbing his scar in irritation.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Potter." Snape suddenly snapped, looking angrier than ever. "If you actually cleared your mind for once you'd-"

"Oh get that stick out of ya ass for once Snape." Tonks interrupted with a frown. "Even you can see that he isn't enjoying this or doing it for attention."

Snape sniffed but didn't reply.

If it wasn't for the fact that Harry felt completely drained, he probably would have found that comment and Snape's reaction extremely amusing. As it was, Harry heard Ron's stifled snort of laughter.

As Remus's voice softly interrupted, Harry could even detect a note of rare amusement in his voice as he shushed Ron, before turning to Harry. "Harry, what happened? Are you alright to talk now?" he asked, his voice growing more serious.

Harry nodded slowly and sobered up immediately. "It was Karkaroff." He answered as steadily as possible, "He – Voldemort had assigned Bel- a death eater to finding him.

"They caught him – and brought him to him – me … I – kept him alive for information about some – kind of – torch flame or something-"

"-Green flame torch?" Remus enquired anxiously, shooting a startled look at Tonks, who returned it with the same look.

"Yeah – something like that." Harry confirmed, before stopping. He wasn't interested in that torch … he just didn't want to explain the next bit. He didn't want to explain how he as Voldemort had felt when torturing Karkaroff … how he enjoyed it … the adrenaline and power rushing through his veins.

What made it worse was the fact that he knew all this tied in with his connection with Voldemort. He had even known how it had felt to cast the cruciatus curse on another human being … and still did. The only possible and absolutely panic-filled reason for this must be because the connection was growing stronger.

Tonks seemed to notice his growing silence and asked gently, "And then what happened Harry?"

Harry sighed, looking down at his hands, and thankfully noticing that they weren't white and pointy. He tightly clasped them together. "I – he allowed Karkaroff to live, but … punished Karkaroff for deserting him … severely punished." he corrected hesitantly, choosing only to go through the main points.

Besides, saying something about his increasing awareness of Voldemort's feelings and power in front of anyone other than Dumbledore would definitely complicate matters.

"Blimey." Ron breathed suddenly in shock.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, his gaze set anywhere but on the four people in front of him.

"I tried to get out," he mumbled in helplessness. "But I couldn't. It was as though I _was_ him, in both body _and _mind. There was nothing of _me_ left."

"It's not your fault Harry. We know how hard it must be for you, especially with …" here Remus trailed off, his face etched in sorrow. He straightened up after a while and added firmly, "but you will need to work on your occlumency more if you want these nightmares to stop. I'll have to inform Professor Dumbledore to reinstate your occlumency lessons."

Even in his state, Harry almost jumped out of his bed. "But at the – end of last year in – in his office, he said that when Voldemort possessed me – nothing li- like that would have helped me anyway."

Snape sighed exasperatedly. "Don't forget that it would have stopped your vision of Black and you wouldn't have gone careening on after him, only to get him killed in the end." he said waspishly.

Harry blinked twice, momentarily thrown at the blunt truth. Ignoring Remus and Tonk's scolding, Harry nodded slowly. However much he hated to admit it, Snape was right. He still wouldn't deny that he was partly responsible for the reason behind Sirius's death, and he couldn't afford to make the same mistake again with his occlumency … he wasn't playing around anymore, this was real and he could get another person killed.

"I'll do it."

His voice was soft and at first they didn't hear so he tried again, his voice rising above the other three voices. "I'll do it."

The three stopped to look at him, and Snape had an oddly triumphant sneer on his face.

Remus's expression softened at the determination Harry possessed, and nodded soberly. "I'll inform him at the next meeting then Harry. For now, you need to get some more sleep. You two Ron. You'll be leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow morning."

Harry nodded, rubbing at his scar absently. The pain was still there, but luckily it had dwindled to a mild throbbing that he had become accustomed to since the occlumency lessons with Snape. Sighing, he bid everyone else a good night, and went to lie back in bed. Sleep didn't come easy though, and after about an hour of tossing and turning he let out a frustrated sigh.

"Still awake?"

Ron's voice surprised Harry and he practically rolled out of his bed.

"Yeah." he replied, then had a guilty thought. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"Nah," answered Ron, and Harry could see Ron's outline rolling over to face Harry. "Every time I try to sleep, my mind overloads on all these … I dunno, things …"

Harry exhaled heavily. "Me too." He said, understanding Ron perfectly. Too many thoughts plagued his mind, and it was impossible to sleep.

Ron's voice was hesitant as he asked, "Do you reckon we'll make it through this year?"

"I hope so Ron … I sure hope so."

* * *

**A/N:** This has been my longest chapter yet, as I couldn't cut up any parts of the chapter without people wanting to kill me because of another cliffhanger. Just consider it a little present to make up for another late update. Anyway, please review to tell me what you think, or at least join my club. I'll probably update the next chapter quicker on yahoo anyway.

As usual, thanks goes to **Tropic, ER, Linky2 **and** Ocpawnmaster1 **for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Mella deRanged: **I am not planning on a H/Hr story. In my opinion, it doesn't seem likely … R/H does, though I am going to try and write it like JK Rowling does; simple hints, etc, etc … Nothing will happen just yet. Hope you aren't too disappointed. It will be just like the HP books, where romance won't be the main focus.

**Facade1:** Thank you!! I was hoping people would like the present from Sirius and Remus. In the long run it will make Harry less bitter and grieved by Sirius's sudden death.

**PhoenixPadfoot89: **Lol ok then, I won't be saying anything else, other than here's the next chapter … so back off with the school bus, lol. Anyway, glad you liked the presents!

**John: **Great, glad to hear that, lol. Can't lose any of my reviewing readers, hint hint. And I think you'll find a few surprises with the animagi transformations. Not just yet though, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Anyway, thanks!

**Aliba: **Right well this is going to be a veeery long reply to the seven reviews you wrote to me. First of all though, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to review each of my chapters. I appreciate it very much! Ok well as for your reviews, I'll try and answer everything you asked. Ummm, about the little issue of Harry saying the Dursleys' place isnt his home … I don't think I specifically said it that way, other than he doesn't believe it is his place, which the Dursleys' don't really disagree with. It shouldn't matter too much in this story, because every year since he started at Hogwarts, he has pretty much said that Hogwarts is his only home, so I don't think anything will happen about it … but I liked your comment anyway. Made me think for a while, which is good! Oh and yes, there will be romance elements in this story, but as I said in another review it won't be a main focus for the plot or anything like that. It will just have brief mentions and so on. I will say that it won't turn out to be a H/Hr story though. I just find the hints that JK Rowling puts in her books leans more towards R/Hr, so I'll probably be working on that side of things more (discreetly of course). As for any relationships for Harry? Hmmm, I'm still working on some ideas, but I'll see how everything turns out. Often these chapters take a mind of their own sometimes, lol. Anyway, that's it for my review. Thanks for the belated birthday wishes, lol, and I hoped I answered all your questions. I was touched when you said that you hadn't reviewed for anyone else, so I thought I'd give you another thank you. Actually it's also for the part where you said you'd read any books I might write in the future, which I can tell you right now floored me. One day I am hoping to become an author, so if I do, I'll definitely be telling you, lol. How could I not, seeing as you've been so kind in your reviews!!

**Janet: **Thank you, I try!! And you'll find out about Harry's animagi transformation later … I still have yet to decide which path I shall take for his form.

**Chantelli:** Yes, it would, and you'll have to find out later on if that actually happens, because I can tell you now there will be trouble with their transformations. He he. Anyway, thanks for the house elf, lol. It can start by cleaning my room … my revision notes for the exams I just finished, are completely covering my floor. Anyway, I think I'll stop rambling for now. Thanks for another review!

**Amy: **Thank you, and sorry for the long wait. If you want to know when the next chapter for this story will be up, you are invited to join my yahoo group (the address is on my bio). I'll be putting up possible times for updates, and so forth, so you know the progress.

**Tami:** I think stabbing me is going to prolong the updates, lol, but I'm flattered nonetheless. I'm glad you liked the fic so far, and don't worry, I like having other peoples' opinions on it. I would like to say though that Harry's new behaviour isn't really all that unexpected considering what he's been known for. If someone had told me that in the fifth book, Harry was going to be an extremely angry boy, I would have said they were crazy. So I just reckon that after the events of the whole fifth year, he would be quite emotional … I mean now that he's lost his godfather, and the revelation of the prophecy, he's bound to not be completely immune to the emotions he's probably warring with inside.

**Serpent of Light: **Thanks for the review, and I have to agree that the fifth book wasn't entirely what I had been waiting so long for!! Anyway, I hope you keep on reading.


	9. Returning Home

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **This is going to be pretty much a transitional chapter, where nothing much happens. In fact, far less than I thought as I had originally planned to include everything up to the Sorting Hat, but there wasn't enough room. Unfortunately, I think this is one of my less favourable chapters, which makes it all the worse because I haven't updated in such a terribly long time. I was going to have this chapter done by Christmas but that was an impossible feat, what with some relatives staying over, and 'Christmas cheer abound'. Just take note, that although I've only done one chapter, I have been working on future chapters of this story, including the ending.

This next bit is important for people who might want a slightly more detailed version on my fic that I've been working on.

I've been doing a lot of editing for this story lately; that is, filling in all the bits and pieces I missed before posting the chapters. Anyway, part of the editing I've been doing was on this program called etext reader. My uncle just installed it for me on my computer. So what I've done is fix my story so that it can be read on that reader, like in a proper book format. I've also added extra scenes and changed a few things that I have yet to do here on ff.net, so if anybody wants do download the full version so far, join my yahoo group, where in a couple of days I'll have the whole story so far, posted!!

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Nine**

_Returning home_

The next morning, Harry woke early enough that the house was, for once, completely silent. Climbing out of bed, he quietly changed into some clothes, and after packing his pyjamas into his trunk, he picked that and his owl cage up and tiptoed his way down to the kitchen, where he deposited them outside the door.

To his surprise, the only person Harry met inside the kitchen was Snape, who was already sitting down and drinking a cup of something steaming; possibly tea, coffee ... or blood, Harry guessed, snickering slightly.

As it was too late to go back upstairs, Harry boldly walked through the doorway and without talking to or even acknowledging Snape, began to make himself a simple breakfast of toast and eggs. Snape seemed disgruntled to be sitting at the same table with Harry, and quickly finished whatever he was drinking before standing up and making his way out of 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry guessed he was on his way to Hogwarts as well, but couldn't really gain enough energy to care about it.

Soon after Harry finished his second piece of toast, signs of other life began to show itself. First down of the Weasleys was Mrs Weasley, who quickly began to busy herself with everyone else's breakfast. Next came Hermione and Ginny, who were yawning wildly and eyeing Harry with sympathetic looks. Obviously, Harry thought, they'd heard his screaming last night too.

He pasted a smile on his face at the girls in return, and then turned his attention to the rest of the house as Mr Weasley walked through the door. Some other Order members showed up next, including Remus, who had been sleeping upstairs and Tonks and Kingsley who had just arrived via the front door.

Ron was one of the last people to come stumbling into the dining room, still half-asleep as he dragged his trunk after him. His hair and clothes were in its usual disarray, but Harry could tell his mind was only on breakfast, according to the noises that Ron's stomach was making.

Harry stifled a snicker as Ron let loose on his breakfast, and continued to watch on in amusement as everyone else in the household finished their own breakfast and rushed to get ready to leave. Remus was the first to leave the table, disappearing outside along with Tonks and Kingsley for something or rather. Mr Weasley soon followed, and Harry wondered if it had something to do with their transport to Kings Cross Station. Maybe now the Ministry was on their side, they'd get to go in the cars again.

Even after the events of last night where Hermione had commanded them all to be ready and packed by the morning, amazingly enough Mrs Weasley had still managed to find a few bits and pieces belonging to both Ginny and Ron. This resulted in the both of them having to lug their trunks back upstairs to pack again, this time leaving nothing behind, or in an ungainly mess.

So apart from Harry, only Hermione seemed completely unscathed by the Weasleys' running to and fro. Together they merely sat on their trunks by the doorway, waiting patiently, or in Harry's case, laughing softly, for everyone to finish getting ready.

Finally, at a quarter past ten, Ron and Ginny came rushing back down the stairs with their mother yelling behind them at the mess that they would have left behind if it wasn't for her. Needless to say, both Ron and Ginny were sporting the traditional Weasley red-eared look as they joined Hermione and Harry, who up until that stage had been lightly dozing with his head against the back of the wall.

"Mate," Ron shook Harry out of the peaceful daze one gets before falling asleep, making Harry slip off the trunk with a crash. Ron looked sheepish as Harry looked up to glare at him. "Uh – sorry, we're ready now."

Still feeling rather disgruntled, Harry nodded and bent to pick up his trunk, and Hedwig's empty owl cage.

"Oh no – no Harry," Mr Weasley exclaimed suddenly, coming from behind Harry to levitate Harry's trunk and owl cage up off the ground. It was low to the ground as though the trunk had suddenly sprouted wheels, so it wasn't enough to warrant any suspicion from any muggles. "Let myself, Remus, Tonks and Kingsley take the luggage. It'll be quicker for the Ministry cars at the least."

Harry took a hasty step back as Mr Weasley accidentally waved his wand around, which made Harry's trunk take a quick dive towards his feet.

"So we're going in the Ministry cars again?" Ginny asked, letting Tonks levitate her own trunk. This was short-lived when her trunk only ended up toppling over the coat rack when Tonks walked past it. Mrs Weasley stepped in for her, politely shooing Tonks outside as Kingsley took Hermione's trunk. At that stage, Mrs Black's screams started up again, so nobody could answer until they were all led outside, and the door firmly shut behind them.

Mr Weasley was the one to turn back to his daughter after 12 Grimmauld Place shrunk into nothing and pushed houses 10 and 14 back together with a forceful thump. "Yes, the Ministry has given us full use of their entitlements." he replied, then as though it was an afterthought added, "But of course, if it wasn't for Amelia temporarily taking over Fudge's spot, our requests would have taken weeks to be adequately processed and accepted."

"Why?" asked Harry, his eyes squinting into the sunlight to see if there were any cars parked on the road yet. There were none, only an old lady walking past with her pit-bull terrior, which was barking rather viciously at their large group.

Harry was unpleasantly reminded of Aunt Marge and her nasty dogs and quickly turned back to listen to Mr Weasley. "Well, though the Ministry do support us now – some – are rather sore about the whole incident, and they've been rather reluctant to admit that they'd been wrong for so long. It's rather a mad house there at the moment."

Harry and the others nodded, understanding the situation immediately. After a moment, Harry - remembering his trial last year - added curiously, "Amelia is Madam Bones, isn't she?"

"That she is." Mr Weasley nodded, "She's the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, but due to her high influence in the Ministry, she's been temporarily assigned to be the acting Minister, until the election campaign has finished."

"Is she going to be running for Minister?" Hermione asked excitedly, making Harry wonder the reason behind it. That mystery was solved after Tonks and Kingsley nodded, and she added quickly, "There hasn't been a female Minister in over one hundred years – not since Matilda Biggs of Winchester, who was the first to-"

"-The cars are here." Ron interrupted quickly, cutting Hermione's lecture off short, before she really got into things. He pointed towards the end of the road and sure enough, two black Ministry vehicles came swerving around the corner to come to a stop right in front of them all.

Hermione stopped talking at once, closing her mouth with a frown at Ron.

Remus drew the attention away from the two by talking for the first time since breakfast. "Great, they've arrived." he exclaimed with a satisfied grin. He levitated Ron's trunk over to the car nearest to them, and after looking around, carefully levitated it higher into the trunk of the car. Kingsley, Mr and Mrs Weasley did the same, before directing everyone into a car.

Harry found himself wedged into the second car, in-between Tonks and Remus, and facing Ron, who was next to Mr Weasley, whose head was turned around to speak to the Ministry official driving the car.

"And off we go." Tonks cried out, grinning widely, as the cars pulled off the kerb a few minutes later. She looked out the window as they shot past traffic and sighed as their car managed to weave through two red traffic lights. "I always wanted to drive these cars …" she said wistfully.

"Why didn't you just get a licence?" asked Ron.

Tonks gave an embarrassed laugh. "I – uh failed every time I took the test …" she admitted ruefully. "Seemed that although there were many spells and protection charms on the cars that I drove, I somehow managed to – uh - damage each one beyond repair."

Harry and Ron burst out in raucous laughter, and even Remus started to chuckle as Tonks's face turned pink enough to match her hair. Mr Weasley turned around at that point, no doubt hearing the laughter and smiled a bit.

"It won't be long before we reach the station," he said, then his face took on a serious turn as he glanced at Tonks and Remus. "but when we do, we have to stick close together. I want you-"

He pointed to Harry.

"-To stick in-between Tonks and Remus as soon as you get out of the car. If anything happens, you'll be the main target."

Harry nodded solemnly, remembering the trip to the Order's Headquarters, where he had been the main one being protected. He knew now, why it was so important that he had survived that trip … and all previous others as well. After all, he'd ultimately be the only one who could kill Voldemort, because who could doubt Trelawney's actual first real prophecy.

"Good," Mr Weasley acknowledged, then moved on to tell Ron to stick close to the two girls, himself and Mrs Weasley. Kingsley would be the one behind them all, watching out for anyone suspicious.

The conversation dwindled down eventually, and the rest of the trip was carried out in silence; Harry mainly looking over Tonks' shoulder to watch as the car zig-zagged in and out of traffic.

Mr Weasley wasn't wrong though; it wasn't long for the cars to arrive at Kings Cross Station, which luckily for them, was a very fortunate thing as it was now 'time to get on the train', according to Harry's new wizarding watch.

Tonks climbed out of the car first, and almost immediately began to shield Harry from view of everyone as he himself climbed out. Finding it only vaguely annoying, he stayed within Tonks' shadow as the rest of them got out of their cars. Remus joined him on the right side and gave Harry a reassuring pat on the back.

"Nearly over," he said lightly. "Then soon you'll be back on the train to Hogwarts."

Harry gave a weak smile in return. Though he was excited about returning back to Hogwarts, his really only home, he was feeling slightly agitated. Everything would change again at school this year; he'd be back to being the good old hero … and truthfully, he didn't feel like one, nor did he want that extra attention again.

He sighed softly and followed Tonks and Remus as they entered the station behind everyone else, except for Kingsley who was hanging back a bit. Luckily, they didn't meet any trouble along the way to the platform, other than a few strange looks from muggle passers-by, because of the unusual way they were grouped together.

Unfortunately, their luck almost ran out as they neared Platform Nine and Three Quarters. They almost stumbled directly into the path of a large crowd of people standing and talking loudly beside Platform Nine.

"Reporters," Harry heard Mr Weasley moaning under his breath as they all came to a complete stop. "And no doubt after a personal interview with Harry."

Harry looked over at the crowd and realised that Mr Weasley was right, if the quills only half-concealed behind some of their ears and rolled up parchments in their hands were anything to go by. The only stroke of luck was that none of them were currently facing Harry's direction. Instead they were intently watching the platform as though Harry would suddenly materialise there.

"Let's go back around this corner." Kingsley ushered hurriedly, coming up from behind them with a narrowed expression on his face.

Without being able to have another closer look at the reporters to see if he could recognise any of them, Harry found himself pushed into the said corner along with Ron, Ginny and Hermione. The adults placed themselves just in front, shielding them, yet again from view.

Kingsley didn't look at all happy, when he spoke. "Should have known they wouldn't be deterred from the platform being blocked to them." he said in a low voice.

Harry's curiosity was piqued yet again. "What do you mean?"

"This year, the Ministry's fixed the platform so that anybody not connected with a student at Hogwarts, can't enter through the platform." Mr Weasley explained, peering around the corner ever so slightly.

"So the reporters aren't allowed through unless they've got a child of their own starting or already at Hogwarts?" Hermione guessed. Harry had come to the same conclusion and he looked on in interest.

Kingsley nodded in the affirmative.

"Well what about all of you? Except for Mr and Mrs Weasley, that is." Harry asked warily.

"Not to worry." Tonks said dismissively. "Ministry officials and Order members can go through without a problem."

"Then what about the death eaters not in Azkaban who have children at Hogwarts?" Hermione added worriedly, which immediately reminded Harry of Malfoy and how if his father wasn't still in Azkaban, he'd no doubt use his son to safely get him through the platform. "Couldn't some of them come through under the guise of bringing their children to the train, and then attack?"

"Any known death eater that has either been previously accused or even suspected, has automatically been excluded from entering as well," Kingsley replied, "Not to mention on the other side of this platform there are four aurors stationed waiting to inspect your trunks and anything else you may be wearing or holding."

"-So you see, this only leaves us with the problem of having to go through the crowd of reporters, which is the last thing we need to be doing right now." Mrs Weasley huffed, looking extremely stressed out. "There are no protections outside of the Platform … muggles would notice them if there were."

"Maybe I should have just used my Invisibility Cloak," Harry mumbled softly to Remus, who was standing directly in front of him. Remus seemed to agree as he too turned to look around the corner.

Tonks didn't hear Harry but she said, "There does seem to be a bit of a problem that we didn't think of." which would have sounded bad if she hadn't have sounded so cheerful. Instead, she seemed delighted at the extra obstacle. "How about I cast a Disillusionment charm on all of you right here?" she suggested, not noticing that though the reporters couldn't see them, various muggles could.

"Tonks!" Mr Weasley stopped Tonks from taking out her wand just as a group of muggle children went walking past. "Not in front of the Muggles. We'll have to think of something else-" He moved over a few feet talking with the other adults, leaving Harry and Ron to whisper to themselves, seeing as the girls were involved in their own little conversation right in the corner.

"How about we set up a little diversion?" Ron suggested softly to Harry, nudging Harry out of the corner just enough to point out Rita Skeeter amongst the throe of reporters. She was back with her quick quotes quill in her hand and was looking around with a bug-eyed gaze. Harry nodded with a grin.

"What were you thinking of?" he whispered back, making sure the others couldn't hear. He doubted Hermione would approve of any kind trouble they'd be causing, especially anything courtesy of the twins' store.

Ron smugly pulled out a long, dynamite-looking stick from his pocket that Harry immediately recognised as being one of the twins' new creations that had caused Ron's trunk to smoke up and explode … Smoking Sticks. "One of them wasn't a dud so I managed to snatch it up before mum found it." replied Ron, holding it in one hand. "How about I - accidentally let it fall over there?"

"Let what fall over where?"

Both Harry and Ron looked at each other as Hermione and Ginny sidled up to them with narrowed eyes.

'Uh oh,' Ron mouthed to Harry, then said aloud quickly. "Nothing."

Hermione's expression changed to one of practiced indifference that Harry saw through immediately. She was up to something.

"Oh," she said in an off-handed manner, studying her nails. Now Harry knew she was up to something. Hermione was never one for worrying about her nails. She must suspect that he and Ron were about to do something wrong. "Pity. Ginny and I were discussing ways to get past those reporters. We thought you might have an idea."

Ron's face lit up in surprise and Harry inwardly groaned. It was obvious that Ron hadn't cottoned on to the fact that Hermione was acting way too non-Hermione'ish. Harry just couldn't deny that Ron just had a natural block when it came to anything involving Hermione. One that Ron probably wasn't even aware of.

Harry was proved correct. "Really?" asked Ron, gullibly.

"Yes, well it's too bad there isn't any a way to do it." replied Hermione, sighing.

"Well actually," Ron's chest puffed up proudly, and Harry found himself praying to find some sort of a self-mute button for Ron. Unfortunately no such thing came. "I just thought of something that might work." And like with Harry, he pulled out the Smoking Stick.

"Aha!" Hermione cried out knowingly, snatching the stick up and ignoring Ron's indignant "Hey!" This time Harry did groan out-loud. Ron had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.

"I knew you two were up to something bad." she let out a sniff of dissatisfaction. "And to think you are supposed to be a responsible prefect who sets a good example to the younger generation."

"Oh come on Hermione," Ron complained. "I'm not exactly a prefect here, am I? Besides, it was the only way to set up a diversion for them reporters."

And once again he pointed over to the crowd of reporters. Hermione followed his arm and a few moments later made a sudden sound of disapproval. At first Harry thought it was directed at him and Ron again, but was shocked when Hermione mumbled "Stupid Rita Skeeter's back at it again."

She wordlessly passed the stick back to Ron, whose jaw opened and closed fruitlessly.

"Well, aren't you going to throw it?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.

"Huh?" replied Ron, not at all intelligently. He was still too busy staring at the stick and then at Hermione, whose eyes had taken on a mischievously dangerous look. Ron seemed taken aback every time Hermione showed a rebellious streak, Harry thought with no small amount of amusement, even though he too had been speechless for a few moments. "What happened to being a responsible prefect, Hermy?" he asked sarcastically.

'I suggest you aim straight for the middle," Hermione replied sweetly, pointedly ignoring Ron's last comment. Ginny began to giggle. She was obviously finding this situation amusing too. "right where Rita's standing with her photographer."

Whilst Ron found his wits again, Harry quickly flicked his gaze over again to the adults who were still conversing softly. Harry could see that they weren't getting anywhere; Tonks was still obviously hung up on the disillusion charm, and Mr Weasley was arguing against it because of the presence of Muggles. Harry caught him saying something suspiciously like "… giving them a heart attack."

"Looks like they're still not coming up with anything reasonable, so come on," he said impatiently. "Otherwise the train's gonna leave without us again." The last part Harry eyed Ron with a meaningful gaze that made Ron redden.

Ron nodded. "Are they looking?" he asked, motioning to the adults as he wandered over to the edge of the corner.

Harry turned back again, and caught Remus looking back at them with a suspicious look. Harry mustered up an innocent looking smile, and to his surprise, Remus retaliated with a small wink, before joining the adults' conversation again.

"All clear." Harry announced, still looking at Remus. Remus had been right; there still was some Marauder left in him, after all.

When nothing happened for a few moments, Harry turned back to see Ginny trying to wrench the stick out of Ron's hands. "Let me do it, Ron." Ginny pleaded, then pouted. "Please."

Ron gripped his hands tighter around the stick, and frowned. "No way. It was my idea."

Ginny wasn't one to give up. "Well, I've got better aim. Remember what happened to Perce when I was nine?"

Still, Ron wouldn't let go, whatever it was that Ginny had done to Percy, not impressing him. He wasn't one to give up either. "The twins gave me this one, so I get to try it," he said stubbornly. "Besides, I was the one who _taught_ you how to throw."

Ginny sighed irritably, but then a wide grin spread on her face as she turned her head to look over Ron's shoulder.

"Oh look," she cried, winking slightly in Harry and Hermione's direction. "There's Dean!"

Harry and Hermione, who were facing the same direction that Ginny was, knew at once what she was doing and Harry could hardly hide the grin threatening to play around the corners of his mouth. He could tell that Hermione was the same; her cheeks were reddening and she was biting her lip fiercely.

Poor Ron though, who remained clueless, immediately dropped the stick he was wrestling with, and spun around with a scowl on his face. "Where?" he demanded, his eyes skirting desperately around the station. "I've got some words for-"

He stopped as Ginny let out a giggle, and he indignantly turned around again to look at Ginny, who was holding the stick with a triumphant grin. "Sorry, but it looks like I get to throw it now." she said innocently.

"Oh alright, fine." Ron sighed, though he had no choice about the matter. Ginny was the one who held it in her hands. "Just be careful Gin." he warned, shifting to the side so Ginny had more space to aim.

"Middle name." Ginny grinned, quickly lighting the stick with her wand. Looking around cautiously, she waited a few moments before pitching it over everyone's head to land neatly at Rita Skeeter's feet; exactly where Hermione had suggested.

"Turning more into the twins, that one." Ron mumbled grumpily to Harry, but nonetheless was grinning slightly. "Mum'll have a fit."

Ginny faced them again with a smug grin as chaos spread through the reporters. Harry could hear Rita screaming, and he couldn't resist poking his head around the corner again to see her stomping her feet every which way as the smoke began to thicken all around her. It even seemed to follow her around as she moved, which Harry couldn't help chuckling at. He still couldn't stand that woman.

"What on earth?" He heard Mrs Weasley suddenly say, and knew that she had caught sight of the smoke billowing from the reporter's direction. Ignoring Ron's protests to shove over or tell him what was happening, Harry's head snapped back over to them; Mrs Weasley was looking adequately astonished, and Mr Weasley was scratching his head in bewilderment. Even Tonks and Kingsley were looking on in mild surprise, Tonks mouth partially open in what Harry guessed to be a gape. In fact, the only person looking completely unaffected by the whole situation was Remus, who calmly broke off from the adults and walked over to Harry.

"Another of the twins inventions?" he asked, eyebrow raised as he looked on at the reporters who, like everyone else within ten feet of them were being completely covered by a thick and ever-increasing cloud of smoke.

Harry nodded, grinning when Tonks sidled up to them and out of the corner of her mouth, mumbled. "Nice."

"I think it's time we left though, don't you think?" Remus suggested, waving both hands over to the platform, where people could be half-seen running around wildly. The platform itself was only half- visible, and from experience with Ron's trunk, Harry knew it wouldn't stay that way long either. It would get worse. "Before everything gets even more out of hand than it is already."

Even as he said it, Harry suddenly heard the muggle smoke alarms go off, and his grin grew wider as he saw the outline of muggle security guards running towards the origin of the smoke with fire extinguishers in their hands. He heard the accompanying screeches as the muggles began to spray the extinguishers, and hoped desperately that some had found the target of Rita Skeeter.

"Yeah - maybe we should go now." Harry said quickly, pushing Remus in the direction of the platform. Remus took the hint, and soon enough everyone collected together to begin walking quickly through the commotion.

Harry found himself in the thick of everyone, which didn't help things when people started pushing at them from all directions. Neither did the smoke, which still hadn't receded by the time they grew closer to the platform.

Though it indeed was effective at distracting the reporters, at one stage, even they had momentarily lost their bearings as the smoke became thicker around them.

"Which way?" Mr Weasley had shouted, just behind Harry's left ear.

"It's this way," Tonks had called back promptly, moving away from Harry. That had been quickly followed by a loud clang, and Tonks returned back to him and steered him in the opposite direction. "… maybe not." Harry had heard a few moments later.

When they were finally safely past the smoke and through the platform, Harry was allowed to slow his fast pace beside Tonks - who wasn't bothered by the swelling lump on her forehead - and Remus. He was coughing slightly from inhaling the smoke, but other than that, he was grinning from ear to ear as he was stopped to have his things searched by the aurors waiting by the train.

"Phew," Ron panted, wiping away a sheen of sweat on his forehead as he waited for an auror to finish waving a wand over his clothes, (much like a muggle metal detector). He was then waved through over to Harry who had already been checked over. "What a rush." They watched as Kinglsey and Tonks explained about the smoke to the other aurors.

"What a rush?" Mrs Weasley repeated exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air as she followed behind Ginny. "We were lost in a curtain of smoke, caused by another one of the twins' ridiculous inventions- and don't give me that look Ronald Weasley, I know it was one of you who threw that thing at the reporters-"

Ron weakly closed his mouth and wiped the shocked expression off his face.

"-Any one of us could have disappeared or been abducted by going through that mess, and the only thing you can say is WHAT A RUSH!"

"Well it got us past them, didn't it?" Ron retorted against his better judgement, Harry personally thought. So did, apparently Ron, who quickly added, "But it doesn't matter now … we uh have to get on the train now." Mrs Weasley looked ready to explode, and if it wasn't for Hermione's quick words, future Howlers would have been sent to the youngest Weasley son, in a repeat incident of second year.

"Mrs Weasley, we did get past safely, and we really should board the train now." She coaxed gently. "Ron, Ginny and I have to go to the Prefects meeting, which starts as soon as everyone arrives." Ginny had been made a prefect for her year; Harry only finding out the night before as she had received the letter at the same time Harry had been told of Sirius's will.

The word 'prefect' did it for Mrs Weasley and she calmed down enough to give everyone her goodbye's - with her usual teary hugs of course. Mr Weasley and Remus followed, though less emotional.

When Remus got to Harry, he also affectionately ruffled up Harry's hair, to Harry's discontent. "I know this is rather hypocritical for me to say, but please be careful this year, Harry." he said softly, holding out his hand to shake Harry's. "And don't go looking for more rules to break."

Harry grinned back. "I'll try." he replied, shaking the offered hand.

Tonks and Kingsley then both sent him off with a handshake each (Tonks also with a wink), and soon enough, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were comfortably settled by a compartment window and waving at everyone, as the train set off for its journey to Hogwarts.

… where unknown to Harry, he would begin his sixth and most adventurous year yet.

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**A/N:** Right, well there's Chapter Nine for you! Sorry again for the late wait, but the next should be coming out soon. Parts of it are already done, I've just got to tizzy up a few things before updating … it'll probably take a week. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. Oh, I'm also determining on whether or not to have the new DADA professor to be a character we have already been introduced to at one stage in any of the five books … or it to just be an original character I have made up completely.

As usual, thanks goes to **jaximillion, Kemanran, Sammi, Serpent of Light, Brightest Star, **and **Kathryn the Great 787** for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**PhoenixPadfoot89:** Thanks, sorry for the long wait, but this chapter is pretty long too. Hope you like!

**Nana-hedwig:** Hey, thanks for reviewing. Umm, basically Harry and Snape will develop further on in the fic. They've got to go through quite a bit first to actually accept each other, and I can't tell you exactly how that's going to happen yet, because it'll spoil my story. I can definitely assure you though, that it will be gradual, and Snape's not going to just click his fingers and suddenly stop hating Harry. Oh and the address to my yahoo group is on my author bio page, and the reason I might update there quicker is because sometimes I have major problems with updating on ff.net.

**Tami:** Thanks for another review, and I definitely understand what you're saying. If you're interested, I've been editing the story a bit on my etext reader, so I've taken out some of Harry's more emotional moments and modified them a bit. So if you want you can download the whole story so far off my yahoo group.

**Mikee:** Yeah, I had to pack a lot in that chapter, because I had to have them return to Hogwarts soon, lol. I'm glad you liked it, and think my characters' aren't OOC. I pride myself on making characters sound as they would in JKR's books … although I know I'm nowhere near her league of course. Anyway, thanks for the review and hope to have you continue reading this fic.

**Kathryn:** Thanks for reviewing multiple times for this story, and of course for joining my club. I hope you're still around to read more!!

**Chantelli:** Lol, ok. Thanks for the review. Sorry for the long wait though.

**John:** Thanks!! Sorry for the wait though. Don't kill me!!

**Aliba:** lol, thank you for reviewing again! I'm glad you continue to like my story, and I hope you haven't lost interest yet!

**Dragonsprincess:** Thanks for reviewing!! Glad I made you cry, he he. I'm not sadistic or anything, but it made me feel flattered that my writing had actually influenced someone to cry. Anyway, yes Harry's going to continue to work on his Occlumency, and I am definitely going to have some surprises regarding that, which will be revealed soon.

**WinterWonderland02:**Hey! Thanks for reviewing. Yes, I do know Val, though I haven't had the chance to write to her for ages, which is not very good :( Say hello to her for me!! Anyway, I'll try and read your fics very soon, I promise. I'm just a bit busy at the moment. I've got the flu back again, after having it just before Christmas as well.


	10. An unanticipated turn of event

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords:** I'm sorry I took so long to update this chapter, but I experienced major problems in writing a sorting song … something, which I'm positive I have no talent at (poetry's just not my thing). So although I'm still not happy with the song, I figured this chapter was way due. Anyway, I hope you at least understand it … I'm never writing another one again … (unless I write a sequel, then I'm screwed). Also, just a note to anyone who reads my other story '_Diametrically_ _Opposed'_, it should be updated within the next two days!!

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Ten**

_An unanticipated turn of event_

__

After the train had taken off from the station, and Mr and Mrs Weasley's fiery red hair were out of sight, Harry leant his head back and sighed.

Ginny was the first to break the silence. "Is it alright for me to pop in on some friends?" she asked, standing up. At the other's nods, she smiled cheekily. "I wanna pop in on Luna to see how that search for Heliopaths went." And with that, she opened the compartment door and moved to step outside, Harry feeling a pang of sympathy for Luna as he remembered their last encounter during the Leaving Feast.

"Say hi to her for me," he called through the door, seeing Ginny's quick nod before she completely disappeared from his view.

"Become a fan of Loony Luna, have you?" Ron asked, grinning.

Harry shrugged. "So she's a bit out there," he replied. "Other than that she still helped out when we needed it."

"Anyway," Hermione piped up knowingly. "I think she's quite the Ron Weasley fan."

Ron's head spun around in alarm. "What?"

Hermione looked amused. "She was singing that 'Weasley is our King song for _months_ and – _oooh_."

She stopped as she looked down at her watch, then nudged Ron and pointed down at it. Harry looked on questioningly as Ron's expression fell slightly.

Harry's unspoken question was answered when Ron cleared his throat apologetically and he turned to Harry. "Mate," he said, "Me and Hermione have to go to the prefects meeting-"

"That's fine." Harry waved them off with a careless smile and Ron and Hermione smiled back in relief, promising they would be back later.

"We'll have to go collect Ginny," he heard Hermione say before the door closed.

After they left, Harry turned his attention outside the window, enjoying the momentary solitude before the chaos that was sure to follow when he returned to Hogwarts. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and leant his slightly aching forehead on the cold, but relieving window pane.

It was true what he had said to Ron and Hermione; it was fine for them to be prefects. Harry no longer felt upset about missing the prefect position. It was such a petty thing anyway … there were far more important things anyway. Dumbledore had been right … he did have far too much on his plate already without that responsibility.

Of course there still was a little part of him that felt slightly miffed at being withheld the position because Dumbledore thought he had too much to worry about … it should have been up to Harry to decide. But then Harry remembered how ecstatic Ron was when he found out he was a prefect … and how happy Mrs Weasley and the rest of the family was. Ron deserved it more than Harry, despite everything else … despite Harry's popularity for being the 'Boy-who-lived'. Ron deserved to make a name for himself and he was no less smarter than Harry. Most of the things Harry accomplished was far beyond the scope of following rules anyway. It was amazing that he _hadn't_ been expelled yet. Ron, after all hadn't blown up his aunt.

And besides, Harry had his Quidditch Captaincy to worry about this year … something he knew that he really deserved. Not just something that he would get because of his status in the Wizarding world, but because he had real talent for it.

Harry remained against the window for a few more peaceful minutes until the sliding door opened violently to reveal Dean Thomas and a coughing, red-faced Seamus Finnigan. He looked at them and smiled slightly.

"Hey," he greeted, making room for them to sit. Dean thanked him and sat down across from him.

"Phew," said Seamus, slumping onto the seat as he gasped for breath. He wiped away a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Almost missed the train this year," he commented, still coughing slightly. "There was all this smoke just outside the platform - muggle smoke alarms were going off as well as fire extinguishers - Thought I saw that Rita Skeeter woman get a mouthful from one of them - completely drenched she was. In the end, me mam had to cast that nifty spell Hermione used on yer glasses in third year, so we wouldn't get wet-"

He couldn't continue his rampage as by this time, Harry was clutching his ribs and rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter.

"Eh, Harry?" Seamus leaned forward curiously.

Harry shook his head, and managed to quell the bubble of laughter aching to rise again. "Tell … Ron," he managed to choke out. "All his idea."

Now Seamus looked a mixture between awed and annoyed. "That was his doing?"

Harry explained the whole situation with the reporters, once he'd taken control of himself, still smirking though at the thought of Skeeter running around, drenched to the bone and with her non-water-resistant quick quotes quill in one hand. "We couldn't get through safely without a commotion to get rid of them," he finished smugly, "… so Ron used the twins Smoking Sticks."

Dean grinned widely as Seamus snorted. "Wish I'd seen it," said Dean wistfully, then at Harry's curious look added. "I was early for once."

"Hmm." Was Harry's only reply as he propped himself back up onto his seat, now that his laughing fit was over. The three talked for a while about their summers; Dean telling them that he had gone with a few of his old muggle friends to watch a few soccer games and had started calling out Quidditch fouls when a soccer player was tripped. Apparently, everyone had stopped to look at him, and someone had even suggested he be taken back to the asylum.

After wiping away their tears of laughter, Seamus said on a sombre note that his mother had been preparing them for an attack from Voldemort.

"Seeing as me dad's a muggle 'nd all, me mam's got all these protection charms around our house in case – you-know-who's followers come 'round," Seamus said, then added proudly. "I even helped out … told her about all those defensive spells I learnt in the DA … said she'd forgotten some of them until I told her."

Harry smiled genuinely at that. "That's great Seamus," he replied.

Dean hesitantly asked Harry how his summer was, and the smile wavered slightly. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, Harry wondering if Dean received the Daily Prophet when he was with his muggle family. He doubted it, by the sounds of Dean's honest and clearly clueless face. He quickly stole a look at Seamus who looked as if he knew already.

Harry turned back to Dean. "Uh- it was liveable." He shrugged and left it at that.

"I – uh saw your article in the Daily Prophet," Seamus said cautiously, proving Harry's suspicions to be true. "Was that all true … what you wrote?"

Harry swallowed painfully and nodded, watching as Seamus let out a low whistle. Dean looked on curiously, but Harry didn't elaborate further.

It was, perhaps lucky that a few moments later Neville decided to stumble into a compartment, beaming proudly as he waved around a brand new wand, and Trevor the frog in the other.

"Sorry I took so long to get here," he gasped, sitting down beside Seamus in a flurry of robes. "But Luna caught me and decided to tell me about her summer – oops, sorry."

Neville stopped as Trevor escaped his grip and jumped right into Seamus's lap, making Seamus spout something way too inappropriate to be repeated in any sort of proper company.

"Sorry Seamus," Neville repeated quickly, reaching out to grab at Trevor by one of his green legs. He finally managed to get a hold, and pulled him back into his own lap.

Whilst he was doing that, Harry took a good look at Neville. The boy had changed over the summer. Of course, there still was the clumsy, forgetful boy Harry had known for the past five years … but gone was his meekness … the same meekness that had always shone on his face whenever he had to learn something difficult or when he was in potions. Instead he looked more prouder, more determined. His chin was lifted higher, as though to meet every challenge thrown his way, and Harry was glad that the attack at the Ministry had at least finally managed to up Neville's self-esteem.

_Nothing like seeing your worst enemy in front of your eyes to give you more determination,_ Harry thought wryly, thinking of Bellatrix and Voldemort. 

He was nudged out his reverie by Neville's foot.

"Hey, what do you think of my new wand?" Neville asked shyly, letting Harry have a look at it. "Oak, ten inches. Unicorn hair core … good for defence work … Gran bought it for me after …" he trailed off, and looked at Harry unsure of whether or not it was a good idea for bringing up that day.

"So, I bet you can't wait to try it out then?" Harry said brightly, smiling. Neville relaxed in audible relief. "Oh and thanks for my birthday present … sorry I couldn't get you anything."

"Oh-" Neville looked surprised. "No you don't have to get anything for me," he said quickly.

But Harry wasn't to be deterred. Neville didn't deserve to be overlooked so much. He saw such a spark in the boy's eyes, a spark that ignited the same desire.

Neville could just as well have turned out to be him, and it wasn't fair that people didn't pay attention to Neville.

"How about I buy you some Every Flavour Beans when the food trolley comes around?"

"Um – ok," Neville smiled gratefully and Harry's heart felt just that little bit lighter. He even found himself thinking that maybe this year wouldn't be too bad after all … not while his friends are around him, anyway.

Thus, the next few hours were spent talking happily with his fellow Gryffindors', and the occasional DA member who would stick their head in for a quick visit, asking if the DA was to continue this year. Ron, Hermione and Ginny rejoining them halfway through the journey.

But sometimes, further on in the trip, other students who Harry didn't know would also come into the compartment, giving their condolences on his godfather's death and telling him how brave and heroic they thought he was to fight against you-know-who and still live to tell the tale.

After this had occurred for almost ten minutes straight, it almost came to Harry as a relief when Ron and Hermione, using their prefect status, told them that if he wasn't left alone for the rest of the trip, they would deduct points from their Houses. Thankfully, Harry's visitors were drastically shortened, and he spent the rest of the trip in peace and amongst friends.

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After travelling in the carriages up to Hogwarts and Harry giving the Thestral pulling his carriage a thankful pat, Harry followed the rest of the school into the castle and up the stairs to the Great Hall; Ron and Hermione only steps behind him.

He ignored the people gawking and whispering about him, keeping his gaze up at the enchanted sky – at the moment littered with sparkling stars and fast moving clouds - as he entered the Great Hall. However, as he changed his gaze to look forward to the Staff table, he couldn't help stopping dead in his tracks, causing Ron and Hermione to abruptly the same

_"Tonks_?" he gasped, looking straight at the figure sitting in the DADA chair. True to Harry's word, the woman sitting there talking and waving her arms around eagerly with Professor Hooch looked remarkably like the woman they had left behind on the platform only hours before. Her facial features were relatively the same; the same heart-shaped face with cheeky grin, and dark sparkling eyes. The only difference was that now she had long brown hair in place of the vibrant pink spikes she had previously sported.

When she caught a glimpse of Harry, Ron and Hermione still gaping in astonishment at the Head Table, she winked surreptitiously and flicked her long hair back into the face of a very unimpressed Snape.

"Still the old Tonks, eh Harry?" Ron sniggered, watching as Snape grumpily shifted his chair more over to Professor Hagrid, who also gave a wave at the trio. Snape didn't at all look pleased at being sandwiched between the two and scowled.

That started the three laughing even more, and after waving back at both Tonks and Hagrid, they continued moving towards the Gryffindor table once more. Hermione was the first to sit down, followed by Ron and then Harry, who gave an extra look over at the table.

Harry had to admit that he was immensely relieved to finally have what he thought would be their second effective DADA teacher. Dumbledore had chosen well this time.

He turned his attention back to his table; by then, Neville and the other Gryffindor sixth years had caught up with them and were looking at the new teacher. Hermione quickly filled them in on who it was, she obviously was happy too.

There was a long wait for the first years to arrive, and as usual, Ron started impatiently mumbling under his breath for the 'little runts' to hurry up. Finally, just as Ron was close to banging his empty plate onto the table and chanting for food, the Great Hall doors swung open and Professor McGonagall – now without the walking stick – came striding in, with a throe of meek looking first years trailing quickly after her.

If it wasn't for the plate Ron was still holding in his hands, he would have thrown his hands up in exasperation. "Finally!" he exclaimed loudly, causing vague snickers throughout the hall, and a rather unpleasant looking look from McGonagall.

Amidst heavy chuckling on Harry's part, and Hermione's own attempt at a McGonagall glare, Ron smiled weakly back and pretended to pay extra attention to the Sorting Hat, which was now in its usual place on the stool.

Like everyone else, Harry looked expectantly at the Sorting Hat, wondering what song would have the school rendered speechless this year.

He wasn't to be disappointed. The hat twitched on the stool and opened its slit-like mouth to sing:

.

You may think me ignorant

Of the times that have gone past

But one thing I do know,

Goes outside the role I've been cast.

.

I've tried to make you realise

That solidarity of all houses is needed.

And yet instead with sadness, I see

This warning has not been heeded.

.

As was the case

Over a thousand years ago,

One house remains detached

And considered a deathly foe.

.

But as I've said before,

That was not always the case

The four houses were once banded together

Until one rivalry reared its ugly face.

.

Slytherin and Gryffindor,

Once the greatest of friends

Spread their discord amongst the school,

Leaving all these years not on the mends.

.

But now it's time, that

All the Houses breached the gap

We are all human

Except yours truly, the Thinking Cap.

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Last year began a whole new way

For the four houses of Hogwarts school

In times of peril I sorted

But warned you of becoming a fool

.

So this year, it continues

Where I'm to sort you out,

But I'll do so with caution

And no mucking about.

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Gryffindor originally chose those,

Who, like him were brave at heart,

Courageous and strong, but

Now it is time to break apart.

.

Slytherin wanted those

who were pure-blooded to the core,

Cunning and self-seeking

But I want something more.

.

Ravenclaw had those

With knowledge and wit,

Their intelligence took them places

But all that does not quite fit.

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Hufflepuff had those, who

Were faithful and true.

Loyal to the bone

But it's time that you knew,

.

See the qualities that I have chosen

To be within each house

Are not all of what's inside

And it's time that I grouse.

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This division of houses

Is what's split us apart

Now it is time for Hogwarts

To show some heart.

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Forget the houses

And the colours too.

Things are more important

For us to start anew.

.

Our world has come into,

Troubled and dangerous times

That are far overbearing, than

Silly sorting rhymes.

.

So together, forever

Amongst the highs and lows

United, Hogwarts should stand

A chance against our foes.

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Last year was a warning,

For the horror that has begun

Now Hogwarts must merge together

If the war is to be won.

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The last words echoed eerily throughout the Great Hall, and once again, there was silence throughout as everyone looked at the hat with no small amounts of confusion, apprehension and dread. There was no doubt in anyone's mind this year that the hat was talking about the war with Voldemort and what Hogwarts fate shall be.

The silence was only broken when Professor McGonagall broke out of her own reverie and cleared her throat importantly.

"Now," McGonagall started sternly. "When I call your name, please step up to the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head." She unrolled the parchment and her glasses fell to the bridge of her nose as she called out the first name.

"Avett, Leah."

The Hat only took a few moments before it called out, "Ravenclaw!"

Though Harry's classmates whispered excitedly around him as Leah went to the Ravenclaw table, he remained silent, content to stare into space as the words from the sorting song impacted him fully.

For the second time in two years, the Hat mentioned the unity of all Houses … and for the second time in two years, it was too hard for Harry to accept or comprehend. Gryffindor and Slytherin make peace? Surely that was too much to ask? As the had had said, it had been many a year since Gryffindor or Slytherin were anything but enemies.

Harry stole a glance at the Slytherin table and watched as Malfoy entertained the table with some disdainful comments that didn't quite reach Harry's ears.

How could mending ties with Malfoy be influential to winning the war? If anything, most of the Death Eaters _came_ from Slytherin, so what was the point of making any sort of a truce with them if they were just to 'Avada Kedavra' them when they needed them the most.

_But_, that annoying little voice in his head said, _you were almost a Slytherin, and you would never have followed Voldemort or became a death eater._

Harry's gaze flickered over old and new Slytherins over at their table, and couldn't help take notice of the large amount of them that he had never taken notice of before. How could he possibly know that they were all bad? Maybe these House rivalries are doing more damage than good.

Now Harry's attention was toward the DA. Having Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff together with Gryffindor had sure helped things. There was no real difference between any of them, regardless of their houses, and there was no reason to alienate them just because they weren't wearing the right house colours. If anything, they were strengthened by uniting their forces together. Could that really be the key to winning the fight against Voldemort? Having Slytherin unite with them as well?

Harry looked back over to the Slytherin table and Malfoy. There had to be some good points in the Slytherins. They couldn't all be future dark lords.

At that moment though, as if to prove Harry's point wrong, Malfoy caught Harry's eye and muttered something else that made the Slytherins' laugh and look vindictively over at Harry.

With a scowl, Harry turned his head back to his friends and then over to the hat, which was currently deciding which House to put Davids, Matthew. Finally it decided on Hufflepuff, and Matthew shuffled over to the cheering Hufflepuff table.

About to lose interest again, Harry rested his head in his hands and began to slowly close his eyes.

"Evans, Mark," Eyes snapped open and his head shot up in shock, startling Hermione, who was as usual intently watching the first years being sorted.

"Do you know him?" Hermione asked, not missing a beat as Harry incredulously stared at the boy who hesitantly walked up to the Hat.

"Yeah," Harry whispered back. "Lives in my neighbourhood … Dudley and his gang liked to beat him up a lot because he gave them mouth-"

He was going to add that like the rest of the kids in his neighbourhood, Mark Evans steered well clear of him because he was the incurable and dangerous criminal, but the Hat decided to spout out "Gryffindor!" causing cheers to erupt from the Gryffindor table, and effectively drowning out anything else Harry wanted to add.

"Well, he'd have to be brave and courageous to stand up to that lump of lard," Harry muttered under his breath as he watched Mark sit at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"That or stupid," Ron added. "That cousin of yours is like four times the size of that kid!"

Harry scowled, turning back to his friends. "I know."

The sorting continued on, almost unforgivingly, according to Ron and then Harry's stomachs. Finally, Zelich, Jade was sorted into Ravenclaw and the sorting was over.

In the action of looking up at the Head Table for Professor Dumbledore's welcome speech, Harry accidentally locked eyes with Mark Evans, who had simultaneously looked away from the other first year Gryffindors beside him. Almost instantly, Mark's eyes widened noticeably … _but for once_, Harry thought ruefully, _not because of my scar._

Feeling uncomfortable, Harry looked away to where Professor Dumbledore had stood up and was waiting for everyone to cease their talking. For a moment, Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes caught Harry's gaze and he gave a brief sad nod, before proceeding to greet everyone.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, new and old," he announced loudly. "I won't keep you long for dinner, but I do have a few announcements to make, which unfortunately do not include only a few short words as past years …"

A brief scatter of chuckles swept across the Hall and Dumbledore smiled cheerily. "Now, onto the first issue. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is exactly that to all students – forbidden. I daresay with the Weasley twins out of Hogwarts, this will hopefully be a - rare occurrence now." At that, Dumbledore eyed Harry from beneath his spectacles and Harry couldn't help but grin slightly.

"Secondly, Hogwarts caretaker Mr Filch has kindly relinquished some of his previous rules from last year. If you want the new and improved list of items banned from Hogwarts, please feel fit to see him or simply see the Wizard Weasley Wheezes weekly catalogue."

Ron's face broke out in a wide grin at that, as everybody turned to him and Ginny, the only Weasleys' left at Hogwarts now. No doubt he liked all the extra attention, Harry mused, looking at his red headed friend.

"Thirdly," Dumbledore continued merrily. He now pointed over towards Tonks who stood up with a cheery wave. "Professor Tonks here, a current auror from the Ministry of Magic will be your new DADA Professor for the year!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who knew her the most, clapped the loudest; Ginny even giving a shrill whistle. Tonks shot them a quick grateful grin.

After everything had quietened down and Tonks had sat back down, thankfully without a long, windy speech, Dumbledore added, "Also, as you can see the High Inquisitor is no longer a part of Hogwarts, so all – _ahem_-"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and in-between this Ginny did her legendary '_hem hem'_, making students nearby laugh softly.

"-Educational Decrees made in her presence _including bans_ are now uplifted and invalid."

There was a moment of amazed silence for the students that hadn't known before and then cheering broke out from the four houses, Gryffindor being the loudest.

"Cor," Seamus cried out loudly, being one of many to pat Harry on the back. "That means you're back on the Quidditch team!"

"Along with Weasley, we're going to win the Cup again!" Katie Bell/Alicia Spinnet screamed excitedly, bopping Harry and Ron on the head.

"With that said," Dumbledore continued on above the cheering. He too was smiling benevolently. "Enjoy your school year at Hogwarts."

By the time the food appeared, Harry was feeling quite on cloud nine. For once, he wouldn't have to be reminded of Voldemort or any stupid war and for just a little while he could pretend his life consisted of just Quidditch and school. He dug into his food with gusto, Ron immediately doing the same.

Unfortunately halfway through his dessert, whilst he was in the midst of talking to Ron about the possibility of the twins getting inducted into the Order, Harry began to feel an increasingly unpleasant prickle at the back of his neck … something that usually pointed towards somebody or something watching him closely.

Harry froze mid-action, and quickly looked around, searching for whoever it was that was staring at him. With no luck at any of the tables, he finally rested his eyes on the Head Table where Snape – Harry shouldn't have been surprised - was obviously having no qualms at sending him death glares across the Hall.

Harry narrowed his eyes hatefully at the man and returned the glare. After all, he couldn't lose points for glaring when the greasy git was over ten feet away from him.

"… They'll have to find a way of telling us if they're in or not-"

Ron stopped when he saw that Harry was busy glaring back at Snape to answer. "Oh forget him Harry," he said dismissively. "He's probably still sore about you being in his potions class again."

Still, as Harry looked away, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Snape continued to glare at him, and if it was possible, there would definitely have been sparks shooting out of them at the force he was sending over to him.

Harry took a moment to mull on what he'd done to annoy Snape that time. Surely it still wouldn't be over what Ron had suggested, he concluded incredulously. Snape hadn't said anything to him this morning, let alone send looks as filthy as the ones he was sending now.

Harry guardedly took a sip out of his pumpkin juice, for a moment thinking that Snape might have poisoned it or put truth serum into it, seeing as Snape's attention was still on him. Fighting the urge to childishly poke his tongue out at him, Harry took a large gulp and set the cup down forcefully.

"I wish he'd set his vampire-like eyes elsewhere," Harry hissed to Ron out of the corner of his mouth as he picked up his fork to eat again. He only took a few more bites out of his pudding, before placing his fork back down in disgust, feeling put-off his food now that Snape's presence wouldn't leave him.

"Stupid Snape," said Harry, grumpily, his good mood deflating heavily. Ron looked set to agree with Harry, but was stopped as a shadow fell onto him.

The shadow was Professor McGonagall, who – obviously finished with her own dinner – had begun to swoop past the Gryffindor table with the Sorting Hat. To Harry's surprise, she stopped to congratulate Harry on his Quidditch Captain position and then to pass him a note that she said was from Professor Dumbledore.

Frowning slightly, and shooting a curious look at Dumbledore who wasn't looking back, Harry began to deftly open the parchment, his frown growing deeper as his eyes skimmed over it quickly.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed loudly, throwing the parchment down after reading only the first two lines. Uncaring of the fact that everyone turned to look at him, Harry glared at Dumbledore who still wouldn't look him in the eye. Instead he caught Snape's malevolent glare and matched it for a long moment

Ron nudged him and he tore his eyes away. "What's wrong?"

Aware that everybody's attention was still on him, Harry shook his head, and pretended to intently study his food. Only when everybody finally looked away, did Harry whisper to Ron and Hermione, "I'm starting Occlumency lessons again, alright-"

Then he jerked his head towards the end of the head table, now clutching the parchment tightly in one clenched fist. "-With _Snape_."

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**A/N:** He he, trouble approaches. I know that most likely Harry won't be doing Occlumency with Snape again in the real sixth book, but I just couldn't resist. There is a good reason behind it though, which you will all find out later on in the story. Anyway, it gives me more interaction between Harry and Snape, so that's good! For some reason I can't help but like the snarky potions master!!

I almost forgot … Also, I thought I'd tell you the reason why I ended up putting Tonks as their new DADA teacher. As Voldemort's return has finally been acknowledged, obviously the students are going to have to prepare themselves against the many curses and hexes that will be coming from any death eaters. Having a new and still on-duty auror (whose involved with the Order _and _the Ministry) around will not only help the Hogwarts students, but also protect Harry. Please review to tell me what you think of this chapter. I can't know if anyone likes it or not if you don't!!

Oh and just a reminder, I've got a yahoo group for my two stories. Anybody can join. The address is on my author's page.

As usual thanks to the following reviewers:

**Dragonsprincess:** Hey, thanks for another review. Long too, which is good. I agreed with what you said about Remus (mainly because he's like my second or third favourite character), but I won't be having him as the DADA professor. He'll be doing something more important, but don't worry he'll still be a big part of the story. Anyway, I promise to have a look at your fic within the week. I haven't had a chance yet, something which I'm really sorry for. Your story sounds interesting though.

**WinterWonderland02:** Thank you for reviewing again. Sorry for the wait (again), lol.

**Nana-hedwig:** Thanks, I'm glad you liked it anyway. This one has a bit more in it. Longer too, I think, lol. I appreciated your opinion on the DADA professor question. You'll find out who I chose in this chapter. I hope you like it!!

**Maxwell Coffee House:** Thank you!! I hope you like this chapter. I don't think its one of my best ones, but … ah well.

**John:** Thanks, glad you liked!!

**Serpent of Light:** Thanks for the review!!

**Amber16:** No problem, I appreciate your honesty. Besides, I agree with you, I don't much like reading original characters either. I just didn't know whether or not people would like that or not. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like who the DADA professor is!!

**Gaul1:** Thanks for reviewing and I hope you keep on reading!!


	11. First day fizzles

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords:** Well, here I am … updating another chapter. This will probably be the earliest update I've made in a while, and unfortunately it will probably remain that way. I start university in a few days, so I'll be pretty busy settling in again and all … sorry about that, but I'll try not to take too long.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Eleven**

___First day fizzles_

Even after dinner had finished, Harry was still fuming by the time he reached the fat Lady portrait; both Hermione and Ron unable to calm him down.

After stating the password ("Fudge for brains"), Harry wordlessly stormed into the common room, ignoring the few that already occupied it. Luckily, there weren't too many in the common room; they'd beaten the first years who had not yet arrived with the fifth year prefects, Ron and Hermione opting to skive out on their own prefect duty to see to Harry.

"I shoulda known," Harry spat furiously, turning to face them. He kept his voice low, not wanting anybody else in the common room to overhear. "Those glares that Snape kept on sending me should've told me that something else was happening."

With a frustrated cry, Harry roughly raked his hand through his hair. "Why Snape? Why continue with it now, when all Snape wants to do is kill me?"

Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "I doubt Snape wants to kill you." she said calmly. "He's on our side."

"How do we know that, Hermione?" said Ron, forcefully. He was perched on the arm of a nearby armchair and looking quite downtrodden himself. "Harry had lessons with Snape for over three months and nothing good ever came from it – even after Snape stopped the lessons."

"He was the one who went to check up on Sirius, regardless of what's between them-' argued Hermione.

"Yeah, and still left us to be tortured by that Inquisitorial Hag and Snape's Slytherin pets." Ron shot back.

"We got out of there though."

"Yeah, and Sirius is dead!" shouted Ron, then reddened instantly. He turned to Harry, aghast, but after a moment where Harry's eyes flickered with anguish, Harry remained stoic and emotionless. If he let himself feel angry at every mention of Sirius, he'd go crazy.

"Finished?" said Harry, sarcastically, looking from Ron to Hermione.

Ron looked down at the ground. "Sorry, mate." he muttered.

"It doesn't matter." replied Harry, shortly, sitting down on a couch. He felt tired all of a sudden. Tired and sick of everything that was happening to him. He wouldn't be able to stand it, if things went back to the way it was last year … having Dumbledore keeping him from things until it was too late. It was just too painful.

Harry sighed, and that gained back Ron and Hermione's attention who sat cautiously beside him.

"There has to be a reasonable explanation for this, Harry." Hermione tried to say pleadingly, but Harry would have nothing of it.

"Snape? Reasonable?" he laughed hollowly. "The only thing we ever both agreed on was having him not teach me Occlumency."

"No," Hermione tried to say forcefully. "I'm talking about Dumbledore. He was the one who sent you the letter, wasn't he?"

Harry snorted bitterly. "Yeah … sent it, but didn't bother to explain why I had to go with Snape again." _Great Harry, once again he's keeping things from you, just bloody brilliant. _

"Can I see the letter he gave you?" asked Hermione, outstretching her hand to Harry.

Harry plunged a hand into his pocket, and pulled out the parchment. It was slightly crumpled from the times Harry had been clenching it in his fist on the way back to the common room. With a sigh, he handed it to Hermione, then stood up abruptly and began to pace across the room.

She took only a few seconds to read it through … as Harry had remembered, there were only three sentences on the parchment, informing Harry that he was to resume Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, and that Snape would be the one to set a time and place for the lessons. He hadn't bothered to read that last bit until he'd left the Great Hall though.

When Hermione looked back up again, Harry stopped his pacing and looked expectantly at her. If there was a time he needed Hermione's quick-working brain, it was now.

"Well?" he prompted venomously, but Hermione didn't say anything. "Got any bright ideas? Perhaps send Snape out to meet the centaurs?"

Ron, silent up until that point, snorted and sank down into the chair. "If only." he said. "Imagine what would happen in your potions class if someone were to imitate a galloping centaur?"

Harry turned his head to look at Ron at the same time Hermione did, and for a moment the three remained stunned into silence, before suddenly breaking out into laughter.

"You know," Hermione said, once she'd regained her composure. "I heard a seventh year Gryffindor, whose mother works at St Mungo's, say to her friend that Umbridge is currently residing there, and that she spends half the time with ear plugs in her ear because she always seems to hear hoof beats around her."

"I really wish Snape would get an adjoining room with her.' Ron sighed wistfully, making the three laugh again.

"You're not the one who has to put up with him for two different lessons though." Harry said, his mood darkening once more. "I just wish I knew why I-"

Harry was cut off prematurely as the Gryffindor portrait opened inwards to allow entrance to the fifth year prefects and the small group of huddled first years.

"I'm going upstairs," Harry said quickly, after catching Mark Evans' eye for the second time that night. He didn't fancy a chat at the moment, not with his blood boiling with so much anger.

"I'll uh – come up with you?" said Ron, and Harry shook his head, answering the silent question.

"Don't worry about me." Harry waved him off. "It's still pretty early. I'm just going to get an early night. 'Night Hermione." He turned to Hermione and forced a smile on his face.

She returned the smile, but her eyes shined brightly as she looked back at him. "Goodnight."

Saying the same to Ron, Harry took the stairs two at a time, practically bolting for his dorm. When he reached it, and shut the door in relief, he noted that neither of the other boys in his year were there. He gladly accepted the peace and quiet, moving over to his beloved four poster bed. Then, more out of having something to do, Harry began to unpack his belongings from his trunk, which had already been brought up and placed beside his bed.

As he went to fold up his pyjama's into one of the bedside drawers, Harry's eyes caught a glimpse of the small mirror in the corner of his trunk. Remembering Remus's letter, Harry only hesitated for a second before shooting out a quick hand to grab the mirror. He held it up to his face so that his reflection was still staring at him.

"Remus." Harry called into the mirror, but like with Sirius, only his reflection remained. He tried again, this time pronouncing the whole name clearly. "Remus Lupin."

The mirror shimmered for a moment before Remus's face appeared worriedly in the mirror.

"Harry? What's wrong?" he called back, and Harry replied breathlessly.

"You knew about Snape, didn't you?" his voice held a ting of accusal.

Remus sighed and looked down momentarily. "I only found out during the meeting, Harry, which is where I just came from." he said. "I assure you I would have told you otherwise. That's why I answered you so quickly. I figured you might be a bit angry."

Harry sighed and fell back onto his bed, still gripping the mirror so that Remus remained in view. "How can I learn Occlumency with Snape again?" he moaned. "Last year was a disaster."

"You've got to have faith in yourself," said Remus. "and Professor Snape is a very accomplished Occlumens and Legimens. I am sure that Professor Dumbledore has told Snape to be less demanding this time around."

"Yes, but why couldn't Professor Dumbledore teach me?" Harry asked. "He's more powerful than Snape, what's wrong with learning from him? Not to mention that Dumbledore doesn't want me dead like Snape does."

"I'm not sure, Harry, but you do know now how important it is for you to learn it, no matter what." Remus sighed as if pained he had to say that, then jerked his head up to look Harry square in the face. "But on another front, I do have some good news to spread."

"What?"

"The twins have been accepted into the Order. So … apart from the Order members, you are now the first to know."

"Wow," Harry gasped. "I bet Mrs Weasley's spitting chips." He could almost imagine the rampage she'd be going on at Order Headquarters right then.

Remus chuckled slightly and his head bobbed up and down in the mirror. "She is not – entirely pleased, no. Of course, I can hardly blame her … having all but two of her children in the Order is not exactly good news. Not after what happened to most of the past Order members."

"What about me?" Harry asked, suddenly thinking of something.

Remus frowned. "What about you, Harry?"

"Look, I know that the Order only allows wizards of age and out of school, but don't you think it would benefit me if I became a member now too? I mean, I know about that prophecy now, and keeping things from me will only make things worse." The thought had only just occurred to Harry, after thinking about how Dumbledore always kept him out of the loop of things, and how helpless he was feeling because of it.

The more he thought about it, the more Harry felt confident that it would be best if he was actively involved with the battle against Voldemort. After all, the sooner he did, the sooner he could finish this damned war and just kill the bastard.

Remus looked unsure. "I don't know, Harry. You're still too young …"

"That's bull and you know it." he said forcefully, not caring in the least that he was swearing in the presence of his ex-professor. "I need to know everything that's going on … like tonight. Dumbledore promised not to keep anything from me, but already he's started doing it again … at least if I join the Order, I'll be able to know everything worth knowing. I'm sick of having to find all this out on my own and too late."

There was silence as Remus visibly weighed the idea. Finally, he said slowly, "I can't argue with your point, and I know you're a special case, Harry … but you're going to have to take that up with the Headmaster. I can't make that decision …"

Harry nodded firmly. "Fine, I'll ask him soon."

"Just don't go rushing into things, Harry," Remus cautioned. "and do try not to start fights with Professor Snape."

"Alright, alright," said Harry glumly. "I'll behave myself around Snape."

After Harry had said goodnight to Remus and carefully placed the mirror beside his Invisibility Cloak, Harry fell back onto the bed with a sigh.

_If he'll behave himself around me … something which I very much doubt._

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The next morning, after a much needed dreamless sleep, Harry was rudely awakened to reality when his quilt was snatched away from him.

"Hey!" he protested indignantly, almost toppling from his bed in the process of catching the culprit. Ron easily evaded Harry and threw the quilt back over to him so that it landed on Harry's head. Seamus hooted with laughter from somewhere over by his own bed.

"I've been calling for you to get up for the past fifteen minutes." cried Ron. "Five minutes ago I told you to get up and you said 'ok'."

Harry removed the covers from his head, his usual messy hair, even more so. "I did?' he asked groggily.

"Yeah." Now Ron looked concerned. "You didn't have any nightmares, did you?"

"Nah, m'fine. Just really tired." Harry emphasised his point by yawning mid-sentence.

"Good. Now hurry up, so I can eat some breakfast. I'll see you in the common room." Ron walked out of the dorm, leaving Harry to groan mournfully and then get ready for breakfast.

Harry gave a wide yawn as he joined Ron at the top of the stairs five minutes later. They walked down together, Harry tugging at his upturned collar as he searched for Hermione.

"Where's Hermione?" he asked sleepily, when Ron began to head towards the portrait. "Shouldn't we wait for her?"

Ron shrugged. "Said she would meet us down at breakfast later on." he said. "Something about having to see McGonagall before our lessons started."

"Oh." Harry answered, furrowing his brow slightly as he tried to think of a reason why Hermione would need to see their Head of House before lessons. The last time that occurred was when Hermione had borrowed a time turner so she could attend all her lessons. Harry hoped she hadn't thought to do that again, and he told Ron as much.

Ron vehemently agreed. "Too right she shouldn't." he said. "She'd have no time for us anymore if she did that again."

"Yeah, and that would be just too disastrous for you, don't you think?" Harry teased, smiling inwardly as Ron's ears turned red.

"I don't know what you mean." Ron said quickly, futilely tugging at his red hair to cover up his ears.

Harry laughed, thinking it was way too easy to bait Ron, but dropped the subject as they continued to walk to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Hey Harry." A boy called when Harry and Ron passed a group of Ravenclaw students.

Slowing down slightly, Harry exchanged glances with Ron and then looked over his shoulder to look at the group. He didn't recognise the guy who had called out to him, so he acknowledged him with an awkward smile. _It's just like the train,_ he thought dolefully. _Now that I'm their little hero again._

"Uh – hi." he said, then looked searchingly at Ron again. Ron shrugged, looking at the guy curiously, before dragging Harry off down the hallway.

They passed about three more groups of students; all who called out to Harry for one thing or another. By the time Harry reached the Great Hall, Harry had had enough of being the centre of attention. He slumped down onto the bench and automatically reached out for a glass of pumpkin juice.

"And I thought the reporters were bad." Ron commented finally and Harry, feeling annoyed, nodded his agreement. He thought longingly of the comfortable four poster bed waiting for him back in his dorm, and thumped his head on the table. He didn't notice Hermione's entrance to the Great Hall until she stopped right in front of the Gryffindor table.

"Good morning everyone." Hermione said cheerily, bouncing to a seat across from Ron and Harry.

Harry grunted half-heartedly, not used to so much cheer when he was still feeling half-asleep. Ron's own greeting was muffled with food.

Hermione didn't seem to mind as she added, "Such a beautiful day, don't you think?"

"If I could open my eyes enough to see more than the food on my plate, I'd give you an answer," Harry said blearily, squinting up at Hermione. "but …" he let his sentence trail off as he yawned again.

"Oh, come on," said Hermione, huffily. "You could at least act happy. It's our first day back."

"And that's exactly why we're not dancing on the table singing how wonderful the sun is shining,' said Ron, sarcastically. "First day means first lessons means first lot of work to do. I don't know about you but I sure enjoyed my first summer not having to do any homework for once… and now I'm back at school being forced into more work I have no idea about.'

"I'm with Ron," grunted Harry. "Who knows what lessons we'll have today and what homework we'll be given. With my luck I'll probably have Potions all day."

"Well, you'll find that out now." said Hermione, perking up even more if that was possible. "Here comes our timetables."

Harry and Ron shared a groan as they saw their timetables in their head of House's hands and inevitably growing nearer. She soon came to them and after smiling briefly at Hermione, she handed them their timetables and walked off.

Harry reluctantly looked down at his timetable, and immediately wished he hadn't. Even though his first lesson wasn't horrible (Herbology), the second definitely was.

"Double Potions!" he complained, then looked over at Ron's. "Double free period! It wouldn't kill you to not look so smug about it, y'know."

And smug Ron looked. "Think I might go back for a little nap after Herbology." he said loftily.

Harry sighed in defeat as the image of his bed suddenly deflated in his mind. He scanned his timetable again. "At least I have a free period after lunch. What d'you have then?" he looked again at Ron's timetable and saw something amiss.

"Hang on - I thought you said you wouldn't be doing all the Auror subjects?" he asked.

"Oh, well I'm not doing Potions, which is one of the most important lessons. I'm doing History of Magic instead." Ron answered. "Not that I'm going to know how I'm going to stay awake with you and Hermione not doing it anymore though."

Hermione looked up at that and flushed. "Well actually, that's the reason I went to see Professor McGonagall before breakfast. I decided last night to drop Study of Ancient Runes and take up History of magic again." she admitted, showing the two boys her new and improved timetable. "There's so much more I can learn about the history of house elves and their so-called legislation …"

Obviously tuning Hermione out as soon as the dreaded words 'house-elves' came into the sentence, Ron excitedly threw himself at Hermione and gave her a hug, before pulling back with a red face.

"Uh – uh," he stammered, his ears growing redder by the second. Harry had a hard job at keeping his snickers to himself as he watched Ron and Hermione look at each other. When Ron finally pulled his gaze away, he added nervously.

"Just glad someone else can copy notes for me when I fall asleep." he mumbled.

Hermione looked torn between chiding Ron for his lack of note- taking skills, and smiling for Ron's rare show of affection.

"I'll help do your notes," she said instead, making Ron grin victoriously. "if you promise to help me with S.P.E.W. I've got some great ideas-"

Ron slumped down in his seat. "Argh, I knew there was a down side to it."

But Hermione had started and was already spouting off ideas that her and Ron could work on. Harry couldn't help laughing as Ron faced him with a pleading expression as if to say 'get me away from her.'

Not wanting to incriminate himself, Harry simply excused himself with a simple, "See you in Herbology. I just got to get my books," and ignored Ron's betrayed look as he rose from the table.

He chuckled wryly at Hermione's distant "Don't be late," before she continued on her lecture with Ron. "-And really the discrimination against house elves shouldn't be so blatantly stated in the Statute for –"

Hermione's voice faded out as he continued down the table, nodding half-heartedly at some of his housemates. Yawning again, Harry rubbed at his eyes tiredly, not noticing when he walked past the first year Gryffindor's until he felt a tug on his robe. Starting slightly, Harry looked down and was surprised to see Mark Evans, the boy from his neighbourhood, rising up from his seat.

"Can I - er talk to you for a sec?" Mark asked hesitantly. The other first years began whispering as Harry nodded and they walked over to the Great Hall doors.

Harry stopped in front of Mark and looked expectantly at him, watching as the young boy began fidgeting uncomfortably, eyes directed to the floor.

"So you don't go to St Brutus's, do you?" were Mark's words when he finally spoke up.

Harry shook his head, still feeling slightly sore about that particular comment because of that incident with his uncle.

"No, 'fraid not." he replied.

Mark Evans let out a nervous laugh. "Y'know when I found out I was a wizard, I never thought I'd see you here." he admitted. "You're supposed to be that criminal boy, not some sort of a – a famous hero." Mark mumbled the last words, almost flushing in embarrassment.

That got a bitter laugh from Harry. "Believe me, this is the last place I expected to see you here too." He ignored the last part.

"So why'd your relatives say you were a criminal?"

"Well, it was a cover up for coming to Hogwarts. My aunt and uncle didn't exactly approve of this whole magic thing."

"But if anyone was to be a criminal," Mark hesitated, obviously not sure whether or not to continue on. In the end he said quickly. "It'd be your cousin."

"Big D?" Harry grinned, not in the least bit offended. It was quite refreshing to have somebody else that didn't fawn all over the fat pig. "Yeah well, the Dursleys are notoriously blind when it comes to their precious Duddykins … they have no idea what he gets up to with that hoodlum gang of his."

Mark relaxed and offered a smile. "He used to always come to the park and beat up anyone who'd say something to him."

"Yeah I heard you badmouthed him … what'd you say to get him all riled up?"

"He saw me eating my lunch one day and demanded that I give it to him." said Mark. "I just told him that any fatter, and he'd be mistaken for a pig … he got really offended, and for some reason, his hands went automatically for his bum."

Harry laughed outright at that, and couldn't help automatically liking the small boy. "Y'see that professor over there?" he asked Mark, pointing out Hagrid who waved enthusiastically.

"Yeah." Mark looked slightly nervous as the giant stood up with a loud crash.

"If you ever get the chance, just ask him about Dudley and pigs. I think you might like the story he'll tell you."

Mark frowned in confusion, but Harry gave him an assuring pat on the back. "Look, I got to get ready for class now," he said. "but if you ever need help or someone to talk to, don't hesitate to approach me. I know how hard it is to come into a new world."

"Thanks." smiled Mark, relaxing. "I'll – uh see you later then. I got to get back to my friends. They were too afraid to come with me to talk to the great Harry Potter." The way Mark said the last few words made Harry feel even more at ease. At least there was someone else who wasn't intimidated by his so-called fame … and not just another Colin Creevy. He actually knew what Harry's home life was like.

Harry turned to leave but Mark shyly added, "I never did think you were a criminal. No matter how much everyone else said it."

'Thanks.' said Harry, smiling slightly. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe his next summer wouldn't be so bad with a wizard so close by. He set off to Herbology with a lighter load on his shoulders.

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After a laidback Herbology lesson where they were introduced to the sorts of plants they'd be dealing with in their NEWT's years, Harry and Hermione – being the only two to go on with Potions – parted from Ron's and the rest of Gryffindor's company.

"I'll be thinking of you when I'm playing Exploding Snap with Neville, Dean and Seamus!" Ron called out as he rounded the corner towards Gryffindor tower.

"Stupid prat … Why'd I want to do Potion's again?" Harry was starting to feel like an idiot for choosing to continue on Potions. There was no way he'd be able to pass with Snape. There was no way he'd live through to complete even another year of potions.

"Come on Harry." said Hermione, grabbing Harry by his sleeve. He allowed himself to be pulled along the corridors, but had a glum expression on his face, feeling as though he was being led to his death. "It's too late to back out now, and we don't want to be late."

"Yeah 'cause then he'd actually have a reason for taking away points." Harry mumbled grumpily.

He scowled as the two reached the dungeon's and the scowl only increased as he entered the classroom to find the class half-filled with Slytherins', excluding Crabbe and Goyle. The only plus was the class was also occupied by the other two Houses, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. He waved half-heartedly at Justin and Ernie from Hufflepuff - who he had only just seen in Herbology - and sat with Hermione at a table behind Susan Bones and Mandy Brocklehurst, two Ravenclaws.

Just in time, Harry slid in his seat just as the door slammed open. Snape - a book tucked securely under one black-robed arm - stalked past the desks, and laid his eyes on everyone present. Some, like Hermione squirmed under the watchful gaze, but Harry remained still and glared straight back at him.

This seemed to spur Snape into finally talking and he made his way back to his table with a dramatic swish of his black robe.

"Welcome to my NEWT preparatory potions class. Most," And here, most unsurprisingly, Snape turned to face Malfoy, who was sneering triumphantly. "of you have rightfully earned your place here, with the exception of a few-" here he stopped to glare at Harry with a look of utter distaste, making the Slytherins' present snicker. "-but let me tell you this now. This is a NEWT preparatory class and contrary to previous years, I will not stand for any ridiculous mistakes in this potions class."

He slammed the book he was holding, a book Harry recognised as their current potions textbook on the table, making everybody jump.

"Now that some rather hopeless students have left the fray, particularly Longbottom, I have the utmost confidence that most," Once again, Snape's narrowed eyes found Harry's, "of you will succeed."

Here he stopped to pick up the textbook again and opened it. "Page 26. We're revising Draught of the Living Death." Snape barked. "Instructions are up on the board, and you have thirty minutes remaining of this lesson to complete it."

Snape sat back down at his desk and glared at the students and Harry as he headed off to collect the ingredients needed for the potion. Waiting for his turn behind Hermione, Harry had barely taken another step forward to Snape's cupboard before Snape appeared in front of him.

"This potion may be too advanced for your tastes Potter," he hissed into Harry's ear, looking altogether unpleasant. "but one wrong move and you'll have hell to pay." Then Snape had a rather strange smile on his pale face, and Harry felt a pang of uneasiness. Snape never smiled at him unless something extremely bad was about to happen to him.

Not wanting to disappoint Professor's McGonagall and Dumbledore, Harry shook off the feeling, and merely nodded before grabbing the ingredients and returning back to his table. He then carefully laid out his ingredients, and made sure to read the instructions on the board more than once.

All seemed well at first; Harry had managed to chop, slice and dice all of his ingredients perfectly, and even the first stages of the potion were progressing without any problems. His potion was the required orange colour by the time he had reached the last stage of the potion. Even Hermione hadn't found anything wrong with his work, and she was looking over at him quite often.

"_Potter_." Snape snapped, making Harry's head shoot up, a hand containing a vial of the last crucial and hazardous ingredient, dragon's blood, hovering above his cauldron. "Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention tonight."

"I didn't do anything!" Harry exclaimed indignantly at the unfairness of Snape, for something he hadn't even done wrong. Unknowingly, he stepped angrily away from his cauldron into the passageway to glare at Snape. He didn't notice that whilst stepping away, he accidentally poured more than the two drops required into the potion, since he was thrown from what he'd actually done to deserve Snape's wrath this time.

There came a sudden explosion beside him and Harry looked back to his now exploded cauldron in alarm. When he turned back towards Snape, anger clenched his jaw shut and he was faced with a gloating, triumphant sneer. Snape had played him.

"For leaving your potion unattended during my class and creating an explosion that Longbottom himself would be proud of.' Snape eventually drawled, over the laughter of the Slytherins. He was carelessly watching the ruined potion slop over the desk and onto the floor.

"But if you-' Harry spluttered desperately, waving the hand that still contained the vial of dragon's blood. "-it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't –"

"Hadn't what, Potter?" Snape asked, his voice deceptively quiet, though it was effective enough to cut off Harry. "Do you have something else to add?"

Catching Hermione's desperate hand movements, Harry hung his head down, and mumbled, "No sir."

Snape nodded, smirking. "Good. Then kindly clean that excuse of a potion from the rest of your cauldron and my potions desk."

Swallowing his anger, Harry pulled his wand from his robe pocket and cleaned the mess with a simple "_Evanesco_".

"Did I say that you could use magic, Potter?" Harry snapped his head up to look incredulously at Snape, but didn't answer.

It didn't matter because Snape didn't bother to allow Harry to answer anyway. He continued on imperiously, "That's another five points from Gryffindor, and an extra night of detention for you, Potter."

Gritting his teeth with incredible force, Harry contented himself with sitting down as slowly as possible, then crossed his arms with a carefully blank expression on his face. He wouldn't let Snape get the better of him anymore.

He spent the rest of the lesson on his stool, glaring menacingly at the Slytherins', who were openly and unabashedly whispering about him, and Snape. Not even the sympathetic looks from the other students helped Harry calm down.

At the end of the lesson, where all the students apart from Harry were rushing to fill their vials, Snape stood up from his desk and walked over to him, effectively stopping Harry from walking out from behind his own desk.

"Once again you have displayed your inferiority in my potions class by obtaining another D. I can't exactly say I'm surprised." Snape sighed mockingly, then raised his voice a notch higher so that anyone walking outside could hear. "It looks like we'll be back to remedial potion lessons again. See me tonight, Potter."

_Remedial_ _potions_? All at once, Harry's eyes flashed in realisation at what Snape had done, and he felt that white-hot anger licking the sides of his throat as he saw Snape's mouth twitching into an unpleasant smile. He didn't notice that he was the only person remaining in the classroom, and that the next class were waiting to enter.

Harry now knew the reason for that strange smile by the ingredient's cupboard and he wasn't the least bit pleased.

Finally, with his jaw still clenched shut, Harry nodded tightly at Snape, then grabbed his school bag and left the classroom.

"Harry, what was all that about?" Hermione asked, when Harry came storming out through the throes of the next class. He didn't stop his brisk pace and she began to run in the hopes of catching up with him. "What did he say to you this time?"

Harry stopped to turn abruptly to Hermione. "Snape staged the whole accident so he would have an excuse to give me a detention, and extra remedial potions lessons." he spat. Hermione's mouth opened slightly into an 'o' position.

"I don't care if that was some cover-up for the occlumency lessons," Harry fumed angrily, giving up on all pretences. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore had made the mistake of having Snape as his Occlumency teacher again. "It's totally unfair. I was really trying with that potion, and he's just prejudiced because of my father."

"Maybe you should talk to Dumbledore," Hermione suggested softly. "and find a better way for you and Snape to explain those extra lessons."

"Maybe I should just Avada Kedavra Snape while I'm at it." Harry spat back. "What can Dumbledore do to help, other than to teach me Occlumency himself? He himself, admitted to making the mistake of having Snape teach me, yet he's doing it all over again."

To vent his anger, he stopped to kick a nearby wall in annoyance. Hermione looked momentarily stunned at Harry's blatant show of anger, and stayed back until Harry took a deep breath and calmed down.

"What a fizzle of a day this has been so far, hey?" Harry said to Hermione sheepishly, anger deflating as he leaned against the wall wearily.

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**A/N: **Feel very, very special. This chapter has been my longest chapter yet. 5000 freaken words!! And I still didn't finish Harry's first day back at school. There'll be more next chapter.

Oooh, and if anyone wants to see Harry, Ron and Hermione's complete timetables, you'll soon be able to find them posted on my yahoo group. They'll be good to have, because then nobody will be as confused when I write about their lessons. I also have a list of students in Harry's year, just to help the class numbers out (I have to admit, I'm very detailed when I write out a story. I have to have almost everything planned).

Anyway, as usual, please review and tell me what you think. I depend on reviews to inform me on what people think about my story.

As usual, thanks goes to **xxGinnyxx**, **Lise, Angi,**** Saxistwriterchick, Silver Dagger, SPASH Panther, John **and **jac.**

And an extended thanks to:

**Dragonsprincess:** You were the only person to comment on my sorting song. I'm glad somebody likes it, because I know my poetry skills are horrendous … lol. Anyway … no, Harry's Occlumency lesson won't be this chapter. It will be in the next one. But don't fret, Harry's first potions lesson will be this chapter, and its guaranteed to be a screamer of a lesson!! Mark Evans, as I said to another person who reviewed, is a mystery to me! I don't know if I'll have him being related to Harry in this story, but he will feature a small part relating to Harry and his life at the Dursleys. About Remus … well I can't tell you much, but he will be visiting the castle a bit more this year … Lastly, I'm really sorry, that I haven't had chance to read your fic yet!! Don't worry, I'll get to it, I'm just a bit stressed at the moment, and haven't had the chance to get on ff.net as much as I used to. Thanks for reviewing again!!

**aerinoutlander:** Thanks, but I don't think I'll reach JK Rowling's skill at writing. Otherwise I wouldn't bother writing on ff.net … I'd be out there writing lots and lots of books that are worth millions! Lol.

**Amber16:** he he, just what I like … to keep people guessing. I'm glad you stuck around to read it even with the possibility of an original character, lol. Anyway, Tonks being DADA professor is going to be somewhat wacky, if you know what I mean! And Snape's Occlumency lessons … gulp … I can guarantee you they won't be pleasant. Glad you liked that comment by the way. When I wrote it, I could imagine it happening in my head … he he. Thanks for reviewing again!

**ilovered:** Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like the way I write my characters! Oh and about Ron … Nah I like Ron, so it's not intentional. So don't worry, he'll get better … more mature, later on … Hermione and Ron … he he, from everything I've read of the books, I gather that those two have something going on … you'll have to read on to find out though.

**WinterWonderland02:** Well, the whole deal with Mark Evans is somewhat of a mystery to me too! JK Rowling rarely puts something into her books without it meaning something important … so who knows? I mean, although Dumbledore said all of Harry's relatives (bar Petunia) are all gone, there still remains the slight possibility that there's a long lost relative or something. I don't know if I'll have him being related to Harry in my story though. At the moment, he'll just be another student at Hogwarts … one that knows of Harry's home life at the Dursleys, though, of course. Also I looked through Ootp and Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet were the only two Chasers leaving at the end of Harry's fifth year. Ginny said it herself to Harry on page 508 (I think that's the right page. If not it's around that number, lol). Oh and yeah, I thought that Luna did have a crush on Ron, especially after I read about Luna humming the 'Weasley is our King' song. You'll have to wait and see if Luna and Ron become a couple, but I will say one thing; where does Hermione fit? He he. Thanks for reviewing!

**tonks:** lol, things won't be getting any easier for a while between Harry and Snape. This chapter will be the perfect example!! Thanks for reviewing!

**Lillypotterfan:** Yeah that's what I thought too about Harry getting the Captain position. He deserves something after everything he's been through, and Quidditch is his best talent … something that has nothing to do with Voldemort or his fame as well. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! Oh and Snape's occlumency lesson won't be until the next chapter, but I think you might like what I have in store this chapter, for Harry's first potion's lesson.

**Emma Victoria Arden: **Wow, I loved the extra long review, and I have to admit that your review has flattered me more than you could ever know! I actually find myself speechless in regards to my reply to your review … lol. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, and that I am really glad you've enjoyed reading my story. I have tried as much as it is possible to make my writing as realistic as JK Rowling's, so it's good to know that you thought it was almost like her's. Snape is and probably will always be one of my most favourite characters to write (apart from Harry and Remus). He's so complex and confusing and just downright mean!! It's great. You'll see more of him this chapter. You think Tonks is a good choice for a professor? Thanks … she'll definitely be another fun character to write about. About Ron and Luna? Well, without saying too much, Hermione is right. Luna does have a crush … but as I said in another review … where does dear old Hermione fit into all of it … hehe. Umm, just a last note before I upload this chapter up on ff.net. Seeing as you've liked the length's of all my other chapters, I think you'll like the length of this one. It's my longest yet, and yes it did take me ages!! So once again thanks for the brilliant review, and I hope to continue to read and review my story. You might be my loyal fan (lol, I can't believe I have one) but you are definitely now one of my most favourite reviewers!!

**Aliba:** No problem, thanks for reviewing this chapter. And Tonks being DADA professor is definitely going to be something to remember throughout the year … lol.


	12. The return of Occlumency

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords:** Managed to update within a month – but only just. Sorry guys. I hope this chapter makes up for it. I tried to perfect everything, especially the long awaited Occlumency lesson, which I guarantee will be exciting (Well I hope).

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Twelve**

___The return of Occlumency_

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By the time Harry and Hermione reached the Great Hall to meet Ron for lunch, Harry had calmed down considerably.

Until Ron asked how Potions went.

After Ron had learnt _exactly_ how Potions had went, Harry calmed back down again, glad that Ron – who initially almost fell off his seat – seemed just as angry as he at the unfairness of it all. 

"So how many points did that greasy bat take altogether?" asked Ron.

"Ten, but I got two detentions." Harry answered grumpily. "I must be making a record or something. I've had a detention on the first day back almost every year, since I started at Hogwarts."

"Yes, that _does_ seem the case, doesn't it Mr Potter?" The stern voice caused Harry, Ron and Hermione to jump and turn around and face their Head of House.

"It might then perhaps be too presumptuous of me to ask that you have free time to see me tonight?" McGonagall continued on evenly.

"Remedial potions." Harry grunted, looking down so McGonagall wouldn't see how angry he was.

"Very well then," said McGonagall, her tone immediately changing. She seemed to understand Harry was feeling a bit – delicate at the moment. "It was just about informing you on the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, seeing as you _are_ the new Captain for Gryffindor."

"Oh, right." Harry said, straightening up in interest. Quidditch. Now there was something guaranteed to cheer him up. "What do you want me to do?"

That seemed to be what McGonagall wanted to hear and she smiled. "Tomorrow I wish for you to-" she paused to pull out a large rolled up parchment from her robe pocket and handed it to Harry. "post this up on the Gryffindor notice board within the week. Feel free to add or change anything as the tryouts won't be for another week."

Harry nodded vigorously, upsetting the precarious balance his glasses had on his nose. Already he had a few ideas running through his head. Grinning, he quickly pushed them back up. "Sure – thanks Professor."

McGonagall then sported a rather mischievous grin for an elderly professor to have. "Do try and hang on to that Cup this year, Potter. I've rather enjoyed holding it over Professor Snape's head for the past few years." she sighed wistfully. "Along with the House Cup, of course." She stopped, smiling again at the three Gryffindors, before walking over to the Staff table.

Harry looked back down at the parchment once she'd gone.

"Come on then, unroll it." Ron pressed. He looked just as excited by the mere mention of Quidditch, as Harry had been.

He grinned, already unrolling the parchment. He looked down at it. "Looks like McGonagall put down we just need two Chasers." He said finally, once he'd finished reading through it. The date for the tryouts was written down for one week on Friday afternoon. He furrowed his brow in thought as he stared down at the parchment.

"Oh – is that for Quidditch tryouts?" Ginny asked, wandering up to them in interest. A small group began to form around them as more Gryffindors walked over to see what the attention was for.

"Yeah," answered Harry, his mind half on the conversation, half on the poster. Since he was now Captain, he might as well try something a little drastic. Wood was known for his outrageous Captaincy, why couldn't he? He nodded inwardly and pulled out a quill from his book bag. "I think I'll add in the Beater positions for tryouts too." He decided, adding that in. "Sloper and Kirke might be better suited elsewhere." He added thoughtfully, absent-mindedly tapping his finger on the parchment.

As other people around him began to talk about who might be trying out, he suddenly remembered what Ginny had said back to him the year before.

"Are you going to try out for the Chaser position like you said last year?" he asked Ginny, who was distractedly curling a ringlet of red-hair in her finger as she stared at the poster.

Ron's head shot up. "What?"

"Oh – I told Harry that when he got his seeker position, I wanted to try being a Chaser." said Ginny simply, looking up.

"Oh."

"And yes I still do want to try out," Ginny told Harry, "if that's alright."

"Sure." Harry replied cheerfully, rolling the parchment back up. "You're a shoe in, the way you fly. Glad you didn't want to keep the Seeker position."

Though Ginny had outgrown her shyness towards Harry last year, Harry couldn't help notice the faint blush on her face.

"Thanks – oh I better be off. Dean's calling me over." She waved them off and went to join Dean, who was indeed waving from further down the table. Ron watched them intently the whole time.

"I don't approve." he said suddenly, when everybody else had left them alone again.

Hermione sighed. "Why not?" she asked, putting the book she was reading down on the table. "What's so wrong about Ginny dating Dean? He's your friend."

"J- Just not – Dean," Ron spluttered. He seemed to think for a moment before triumphantly adding, "He's messy – and he – he always leaves things around our dorms."

"That's hardly a crime.' Hermione muttered, making Ron flush.

But he tried again. "I - just think there are better – people," And again with the weird look, Harry thought, as Ron flicked his eyes over to him for a moment. "for her to go out with."

"Ginny doesn't need your permission on boyfriends, Ron." Hermione informed him. "or your interference."

Ron sniffed after looking at Ginny and Dean again, but relented. "So what's next?" he asked eventually.

"You have History of Magic, I have study … then we have Transfiguration together." answered Harry, unthinkingly, causing Ron to give him a surprised look. "What?"

"You knew our lessons," Ron said slowly, eyebrow raised. "on the first day back."

Harry flushed as Hermione stopped her reading again to study him too. "I just think that I should be a bit more – er – studious this year." he said cautiously.

Hermione seemed definitely pleased by that, and she gave an approving smile. Ron, however, looked confounded. "But you've never cared about being – studious before."

The way he said it, sounded foreign to him, as if Harry had never been serious about his work before.

… which of course he hadn't been really. He hadn't even been thinking about it _that_ morning. He was never like Hermione, wanting to excel in everything, wanting to spend every minute studying and reading every book in the library. That had just never been him. If he passed, then that was okay. There were better, and far more important things in life than schools and books. Hermione had said it back in first year.

But that was all before his Potions lesson. As he had sat down in the background, watching as everyone bustle around their Potions whilst he was given yet another 'D', he realised that he _should_ improve on his half-hearted attempt at school work. If not to shove it right back in Snape's face, then at least to help him in the war with Voldemort.

After all, he'd be the only one to kill Voldemort in the end and obviously, his sheer luck wouldn't always be there. He could not avoid meeting up with Voldemort again; Voldemort would seek him out, there was no doubt about that.

So Harry had made a promise to himself at that moment. He would be more attentive in all classes, study harder and take up extra curricular subjects to be able to survive long enough to kill Voldemort.

He fought back a sigh as he returned back to the present. Maybe he could re-start the DA again, or take up duelling lessons with Tonks. Harry was sure she wouldn't mind helping him out a bit.

Harry spent the rest of lunch in silence, listening to Ron and Hermione bickering about staying awake in History of Magic, then after the bell rang for their next lesson, Harry separated from his two friends, opting to spend his free period walking around the castle, just enjoying the solitude.

Exploring the less frequent populated part of the castle – near Trelawney's tower – Harry encountered no one, and he was able to mull over what being at Hogwarts had already dealt him.

Since his little bout of anger after potions and the night before, Harry admitted shamefully that he also couldn't let his anger get the better of him anymore. Plenty of things in life went wrong – as proven - but regardless of how unfair it was, Harry would just have to suck it up and go on with life. Other people like Remus and Dumbledore did, and they had gone through just as much as he had, if not more.

Harry knew it was easier said than done, and his anger had been rather out of control the past year … but he'd at least have to try and make an effort at occlumency. He couldn't let Voldemort break into his mind again … it was too dangerous having an open mind for Voldemort to delve into. He could find out anything about the Order or his friends.

There was also the little problem of the dreams he'd been having since the beginning of the summer. He _had_ to stop those reoccurring dreams about his parents. He didn't think he could stand watching through Voldemort's eyes as his parents were murdered anymore. Even though it hadn't occurred every night, they had been appearing every now and then, something that he was sure would disappear once he was able to master occlumency.

As he passed a portrait of a sleeping wizard with colonial style spectacles hanging down his neck, Harry adjusted his own glasses and looked down at his watch.

"Oh no." Staring back at him were the words 'you're going to be late,' and Harry realised with a twinge of incredulity that his walk had taken up his whole free period and it was almost time for Transfiguration. Sighing, Harry made his way back to civilisation.

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Harry had made it on time to the classroom, and he, along with the rest of his Gryffindors school-mates, shuffled into the Transfiguration classroom, and took their seats as they waited for McGonagall to arrive. Ever since Harry had met back up with his two best friends, Ron had taken to watching Harry warily, as though he had suddenly sprouted into another Hermione and was about to recite every subject textbook, word for word.

Harry found it all quite amusing and he grinned lopsidedly at his friend, resisting the urge to imitate Hermione's attentive pose as McGonagall entered the room.

"This year, we are to start human transfiguration," McGonagall stated primly as she shut the door.

Hermione, who was on Harry's left whispered a triumphant, "I knew it!"

"You mean we can become animagi?" Dean asked quickly, raising his hand up.

McGonagall sat down heavily on her chair. "Good _heavens_, no." she said, "I can't begin to imagine the situations you would all get into if you were to try becoming animagi … no no no." She looked horrified at the thought. "A human transfiguration is when the caster can transfigure certain body parts into parts of an animal with a special incantation. To become an animagus requires much more magical concentration. You don't recite an incantation to become an animagi. It is your sheer magical power - and not everyone has that ability."

For a moment, Harry swore he caught McGonagall flicking her eyes over to him as she said that, and he had a fleeting thought of the animagus book Remus and Sirius had given him for his birthday.

Wait – a – minute. Harry sat up straighter, something clicking together in his head. Remus's letter had said McGonagall would be teaching him, so that look must have been directed to him after all. _She would be teaching him how to become an animagus!_

He looked back at McGonagall with newfound respect and excitement, and suddenly, the day felt brighter. He wondered when he could start training.

"Any questions?" asked McGonagall, looking around at the class, once she'd finished explaining about human transfigurations.

Hermione immediately raised her hand after looking hesitantly at Harry. "Victor Krum did a human transfiguration in the 2nd task, didn't he Professor?" she asked.

A barely stifled snort sounding suspiciously like "Vicki," was heard on the other side of Harry.

McGonagall smiled. "Yes Miss Granger, you are correct. Mr Krum transfigured his head into that of a shark's so he could adopt its capabilities, such as in this case, breathing underwater."

Ron, looking sour, turned to scowl at Hermione, before he too, raised his hand. "But he did it wrong, didn't he, Professor?" he asked mock-curiously, shooting Hermione a triumphant glare. "He was meant to transfigure his whole body into a shark, not just his head. That's what the judges said."

"Yes, that's also correct, Mr Weasley," McGonagall looked shocked that Ron had taken notice of such detail concerning Victor Krum, but Harry wasn't surprised in the least. He had an amused smile on his face, as he then raised his hand.

"Uh, Professor Mo- well our professor in fourth year." Harry was unsure how to word the traitor taking Moody's place, but McGonagall motioned him to go on, "He used human transfiguration on Malfoy … transfiguring him into a ferret, that is, didn't he?"

McGonagall had to wait a few minutes to answer as the class laughed at the memory of "Malfoy, the bouncing ferret" as Ron whispered in his ear quickly, that same glazed look from two years ago reappearing on his face.

"Yes Mr Potter. That was a case of human transfiguration." McGonagall answered, then added sternly, 'But need I say that transfigurations of any students here at Hogwarts are against the rules and you will be punished severely were you to try it." With that warning, McGonagall gave them a practical demonstration; turning Neville Longbottom's hands into that of a pig's. Neville jumped, shocked for a moment before lifting up his now hoofed arm - complete with pink velvety skin – to the class.

"Wow!" Ron breathed, leaning forward on his seat. Harry too, was watching on in rapture.

McGonagall didn't keep Neville that way for long. After a few minutes of "Ooh's" and "Aah's" by the class, she quickly transfigured Neville back to normal and deflated the class's excitement by informing them they wouldn't be at her level for another few months.

She then had them copying down meticulous notes on human transfigurations and their properties for the rest of the lesson.

"Well that sounds really interesting, doesn't it?" Hermione said after they had exited the Transfiguration classroom and were on their way to Gryffindor tower. Her face was flushed in excitement at the very thought of human transfigurations.

Ron didn't look as pleased as they climbed through the Gryffindor portrait. "Yeah, real interesting." he grumbled, "Maybe you can write another twelve inch letter to _Vicky_ asking how he did it."

Without another word, Ron stormed off to the boys dorms.

"I'm sorry, Hermione." Harry apologised, facing a rather put-off Hermione. "He's a bit worried about the school year and everything. I'm sure he'll realise how big a prat he is as soon as he reaches our dorm."

"Hmph - I just wish _he_ would realise what he wants," Hermione said, incensed. "before I give up and bludgeon it into him." And she too stormed off in a huff, leaving Harry all alone in the middle of the common room; people eyeing him strangely from all directions.

He mentally threw his hands up in the air, before walking over to join Neville, who smiled timidly and moved his Herbology notes to give room for Harry to sit down.

"They really need to get their act together, don't they?"

Neville's unexpected words caused Harry to splutter in surprise. So he hadn't been the only one to see it, after all. A small graced his lips as he replied, "They certainly do."

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Harry spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner in the common room with Neville, Dean and Seamus. As sixth year was the year in-between their Owl's and NEWT's and Hermione wasn't around to tell them off, they merely played a few games of Exploding Snap, instead of worrying about any homework. Not even Harry's newfound drive for excelling in his studying would change that.

Ron and Hermione were both noticeably absent from the common room until dinner; Ron having sulked upstairs in the boys dorm, refusing to come out and join them for a game, and Hermione off at the library with Ginny.

When dinner did arrive, Harry, Ron and Hermione joined back up together, though Ron and Hermione were sullen and a bit too civil for Harry's tastes.

Ron's liveliest words were when he asked when Harry's remedial potions lesson with Snape was.

"Eight," Harry replied glumly.

"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said comfortingly. "Ron and I will wait up for you when you get back."

As she said this, Ron's disgruntled expression changed into one of surprise. "Uh yeah – course we will." he said quickly, as if expecting Hermione to take back what she said.

"No, don't wait up." Harry replied desolately. He was glad that Ron and Hermione had forgiven each other – in their own little way – for him, but he really wasn't looking forward to having Snape dig through his memories again. "Snape'll probably keep me back to do the detention as well."

"I don't know what's worse for you." said Ron, scrunching up his face. "The thought of you doing Occlumency or you do doing detention. The last detention I had with him, I had to handle buckets of dragon liver." His face paled as he obviously remembered back to the disastrous detention.

"Doesn't matter," Harry grumbled, looking up at the staff table where Snape was conspicuously absent. _Great_, he thought, _missing dinner … that can only mean more trouble for me_.

The only thing that helped lighten him up a bit was when Hagrid brushed past halfway through dessert.

"Come see me after me double Creatures lesson tomorrow," Hagrid whispered in Harry's ear. "I got yeh present waiting." Then he strode off with a grin.

Hermione looked up from her book once he had left. "What present, Harry?" she asked suspiciously.

"Don't know," Harry shrugged. "Sent me a letter on my birthday saying he got me something too heavy for Hedwig to carry."

"Heavy?" Hermione repeated doubtfully. "I hope Hagrid didn't get anything illegal."

"He could have gotten you a pet dragon Harry," Ron said suddenly, who had also been listening in on the conversation. "Something to help protect you against you-know-who."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Certainly not, Ron." She said. "Hagrid wouldn't do anything like _that_ again."

"Maybe he wants you to be Grawp's babysitter." Ron said, unperturbed at Hermione. He chuckled. "He probably thinks that's fun and Hedwig definitely wouldn't have been able to carry him to those muggle rellies of yours."

A thought of Grawp being dumped on 4 Privet Drive popped into Harry's mind, and laughing, he told Ron, who joined in.

"_Boys_." Hermione snorted, unimpressed. She went to return back to her book, but then obviously thought better and turned to look expectantly at Harry. "Shouldn't you be going somewhere?" she asked pointedly.

Harry took a look at his wizarding watch and gasped in horror. The arrows on the face of the watch were promptly pointed towards 'Almost running late'. He quickly finished up his pudding and stood up in a rush. "I'll catch y'later."

Ron and Hermione wished him luck, pointedly ignoring the Slytherins laughs and taunts as he passed by their table. He knew they were laughing over his detention and remedial potions lesson.

Harry snorted. Little did they know.

After pushing past the Great Hall doors, he took off at a sprint towards the dungeons. He didn't want to lose any more points for being one second late.

Thankfully, three moving staircases and who knows how many hallways later, Harry made it to the dungeons and Snape's classroom with a couple minutes to spare. Feeling slightly winded, Harry decided to stop and catch his breath by the door before entering Snape's lair. He needed to be rational and level-headed when facing Snape, and he doubted turning up panting and red-faced was going to do him any favours. Waiting a few more moments, Harry faced the door that led to Snape's office.

The door was slightly ajar as he raised his hand to knock, but before his knuckles had even touched the door, Harry heard Snape imperiously beckoning from within for him to come inside. Almost as though he had sensed Harry's presence.

Already feeling off-balance by that fact alone, Harry did so, accidentally shutting the door behind him a tad loudly.

"Five points for disrespecting a teacher." Snape said instantly, who was sitting behind his desk grading papers.

Harry snarled angrily, but didn't answer. Instead, he took out his wand and stood directly in front of Snape, waiting for the occlumency lesson to begin.

"Does it look like I'm ready yet, Potter?" Snape didn't even bother to lift his head as he continued to look down at his papers. Instead he insolently made Harry wait a few moments, before once again waving his arm for Harry to sit on a chair.

Harry sat down cautiously, his wand gripped tightly in one hand and silently fuming. He wasn't here to play games, and that was exactly what Snape was doing. The way he set the lessons, sabotaging his potions grade, and the way he was treating Harry that very instant; as if he wasn't even there. Harry gritted his teeth – No matter how much his father and friends tormented him, it wasn't fair for Snape to do the same to him. He'd done nothing wrong.

Finally, after Harry had almost gritted his teeth to nothing, it seemed that Snape had had enough of grading papers and he looked up at Harry, his lips pressed tightly together in a gesture of annoyance.

"Well boy,' Snape barked, "Don't just sit there. Get into position."

_What kind of position,_ Harry wanted to say. _You don't tell me how to do anything, other than to snark and spit at me._

Still, Harry set himself out in some sort of defence stance; wand tightly gripped in one hand and pointing towards Snape, and the rest of his body tensed in anticipation.

"Now clear your mind of all emotions." instructed Snape, not commenting on Harry's stance. He merely lifted a black eyebrow, raising his own wand as he stood directly in front of Harry.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Harry's eyes drifted close as he attempted some sort of emptiness in his mind. He concentrated on the way he was breathing, rather than thinking of anything related to him, memory and emotion-wise.

But, as time and time before, Snape's presence unnerved him, and his head began to ache as he tried desperately to block out his emotions of Snape; namely loathing and anger.

"Ready?"

Harry gritted his teeth, forcing back the tinge of frustration at Snape's lack of patience. He didn't answer.

He heard Snape tut. "The Dark Lord won't ask for your permission, Potter." he drawled.

The frustration began to grow at the pit of Harry's stomach, but before Harry had the chance to clear his mind again, Snape attacked.

"_Legimens_."

In a matter of seconds, Snape successfully broke through Harry's shield and Snape's office disappeared from Harry's line of sight.

A desolate seven-year-old Harry hunched up in the darkness of his cupboard, only a single stream of light visible above his head … Harry sitting on his bed, a torrent of emotions flooding him … happiness … awe … disbelief … fingers trembling as he opened his first ever birthday card … Sirius's face froze in mild shock, his body slowly disappearing through the back veil …

_That's Sirius_, the voice in Harry's head suddenly said, Sirius now out of view. The veil swayed to an invisible breeze. _You have no right to see him … no right_ -

"_NO_!" Harry screamed, only dully noticing that he had fallen to his knees as he escaped his memories. He scrunched his eyes shut, breathing heavily as the familiar pain returned to his scar. One hand automatically reached up to scratch at that irritation and his breath hitched as it caused another fresh wave of pain.

Carefully, Harry trailed his fingers over his scar. It felt inflamed and sore to the touch.

'Well well, Potter.' Snape's voice came from directly behind him. He must have rounded on him when he was watching the memories.

Harry didn't bother turning around; he concentrated on slowing his rapidly beating heart and ignoring his stupid scar.

Snape's footsteps sounded close to his head. "Even after everything, you still haven't improved - one - iota," Snape paused, his face entirely void of emotion whilst Harry slowly and unsteadily stood up and faced him.

His knee joints cracked like an old man's, and Harry groaned softly. "Doesn't anything ever penetrate that thick head of yours, Potter?"

Harry took another deep breath and ignored the first jibe. "Contradicting yourself a bit there, aren't you, sir?" he sneered. "You're obviously able to get through."

Snape sneered back. "You're right, Potter. Too easily was I able to get through … _Still_. After all of last year's training." he said irately. "I had already skimmed through your thoughts before you defended yourself. You will be easy prey for the Dark Lord. In fact," He rounded on Potter, leering, "I don't see the point in continuing if you insist on remaining at the same idiotic stage you seem content staying at."

"How can I improve when I don't even know what to improve on?" Harry shot back.

"Clear your mind, Potter," hissed Snape. "and grow up. Rid yourself of these pathetic little emotions. Rid yourself of your senseless guilt and grief of the fallen. They can't help you now. They are long gone from this world." He swept an arm around the room to emphasise his point.

"So what?" Harry exploded. "You just expect me to forget them? Forget who they were, what he-" To Harry's embarrassment, his voice broke slightly, and he cleared his throat to try again. "I'm not going to turn into an emotionless person like you. I can't help remembering them and what they have done for me, and I can't forget who is to blame for that." Harry glared at Snape as he said that, heat rushing to his face.

Snape's reply was painfully simple.

"_Legimens_."

Aunt Marge was hitting a 5 year old Harry in the shins with her walking stick, laughing as he yelped in pain … Harry was running desperately from his cousin and his friends, his heart pounding as he looked for an escape route, any escape route … Neville was on the ground, shuddering and screaming in pain …

_Get_ _out_. _You_ _can't_ _see_ _that_, the little voice insisted, and Harry fought back.

'Pro-_protego_.' he gasped, scrunching his eyes up against the anguish threatening to spill out.

Suddenly, Harry's situation changed. His memories stopped, and instead of finding himself back in Snape's office, he found himself seeing something completely different … a man had his hand raised above his head, yelling at a pale black-haired boy … a solitary black- robed figure was kneeling within a circle of black-robed men, his bare pale arm outstretched in front of him …

"Expelliarmus." Harry found himself disarmed by the harsh, cold voice at the same time he was pushed out of the memories, and he blinked, entering reality once more.

As he found himself regaining his balance, he lifted his head slightly to have a look at Snape, whose face had paled dramatically. Unwittingly, green eyes met narrowed black, until Snape broke eye-contact to pick up Harry's fallen wand.

"I believe the Dark Lord will not be allowing you to defend yourself with a wand were he to attempt what I did just now." he said curtly, handing back Harry's wand. He seemed to gain colour back into his tightly drawn face.

"But - I thought last year,' protested Harry. His mind was still reeling from what he had just seen. Had that been Snape's initiation? He shook the thought quickly as Snape glared back at him, waiting for him to continue on. "Last year, you said I could defend myself by any means necessary – including with my wand … sir." he added quickly.

"That was last year. Like I said, he won't give you that chance of a wand to defend yourself, and now that the public is aware of his return, he will not relent until - you - are – dead." Snape ended the sentence at a shout, his eyes blazing, before he lowered his voice. "As Dumbledore believes, it will simply have to be your mind, and your mind only that repels him – though I am doubting that will ever occur."

The last was added whilst Snape rubbed at his temples with one gangly hand. It suddenly struck Harry how worn out Snape looked. He honestly looked on edge, and this whole Occlumency thing probably wasn't helping much either.

Harry caught himself before he began to sympathize with Snape. No matter what was going on, and what his – father and Sirius had done to him whilst they were at school, Snape had no reason to be so mercilessly cruel to him and feel absolutely no remorse for doing so. Why should Harry feel sorry for Snape if Snape cared not about his godfather's death or even his father's? Snape probably never felt even a smidgeon of pity for him, and he had experienced the same bullying from his cousin and friends that Snape did from Harry's father and god-father.

A little late, Harry went to defend himself, but Snape cut him off with a warning glare.

Harry sighed. "Why am I even learning Occlumency from you again?" he asked a bit wearily, "Why did you even _agree_ to it again? You hate me."

"That is none of your business." Snape snapped, eyes narrowing.

"But why does he think you are better than him at teaching me?" Harry persisted, "_sir_. He knows how we – feel about each other."

"So you would rather have the Headmaster as your teacher because you like him?" Snape said, smiling nastily.

"Because he would treat me fairly." Harry shot back, irritated.

"Like the Dark Lord would?"

Harry was silent as the words sunk in, but Snape wasn't finished.

"I daresay you hate the Dark Lord even more than you hate me." he hissed. "So use your brain for once, boy. Think why that might be particularly important now."

Harry fought to form the words for his next sentence, his brain working a mile a minute with the new information that was just given to him. "S-so that's the only reason I'm here learning Occlumency with you? Because of my hatred for you - and lack of hatred for Dumbledore? Because you are more likely to act the same way Vol- You-Know-Who would?"

Snape smiled nastily. "Exactly, Potter." He said mock-approvingly. "And it has only taken you this long to figure it out?"

"If people would tell me what's going on I wouldn't need to figure _anything_ out." Harry shouted, forgetting to reign in his anger.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor, Potter, and I won't hesitate to take more." Snape warned unpleasantly.

Harry closed his mouth with a snap, knowing that Snape would easily carry out that promise if provoked any more. He couldn't help himself from glaring back evenly though.

It didn't matter much as Snape seemed unaffected as he glided back to his desk. "I think that shall be it for tonight, Potter." he said silkily, sitting down. "You also have a detention to complete, if I recall correctly."

Despite the painful tingling in his scar and the anger churning in his stomach, Harry managed to nod his head. "Yes, sir."

"Those jars over there" Snape pointed to the far corner of the room, where a dark and dusty bookshelf was situated from ceiling to floor. Harry almost groaned aloud at the sheer amount of jars sitting on those shelves. "need to be cleaned and recorded down, so I may order some more. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." said Harry, again. It was the only safe thing he could say without insulting the Potions Master.

The anger inside Harry dissipated over the next few hours as he spent the time picking up slimy and cobweb-covered jars that were filled with the most horrible and grotesque of ingredients. Snape had also retreated into his private office during that time, so that too lessened Harry's perilous temper.

Snape re-appeared from his office when Harry had finished recording over half the jars there. "That is enough for tonight," he stated with an expressionless expression on his face. "I believe that they are adequate enough, by your standards at the least. Same time next Monday."

Stifling a yawn, Harry didn't need to be told twice as he headed out the door. He caught sight of Snape's clock above the door, and saw it was nearing curfew.

"And Potter?"

Harry reluctantly turned, fighting against the urge to rub his ever irritating scar again.

"The Headmaster believes you have a few things you want to discuss with him." Snape sneered. "The password is 'Nauseating nougats' and he will be waiting for you now."

Harry nodded wearily before the last words sunk in. "Wha- Now?"

"Yes now, Potter." snapped Snape. "I'm afraid you'll have to postpone your little Gryffindor fan club for another night."

Snorting at the thought of a fan club, Harry just opened the door and walked out. Snape was such a deluded man sometimes, it was almost funny.

But his amusement lessened as he looked at the nearby staircase that would lead to Dumbledore's office. Did he really want to face Dumbledore now? Even though Dumbledore had been right in saying to Snape that Harry wanted to talk to him about a 'few' things, was he coherent enough? It was late and after the horrible day and Occlumency lesson with Snape, Harry felt even more on edge than usual.

_All my thoughts and memories on for show can do that to a person_, Harry told himself wryly as he tiredly trudged up the stairs. _Especially when it's Snape that's controlling the reel of them like some botched home movie. _

He hesitated again as he reached another staircase, Harry longingly looked at the one leading to Gryffindor tower just one hallway down. Finally, Harry sighed and chose the first staircase.

He had a conversation with Dumbledore that was long past due.

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**A/N: **Dun … dun … _dun_. I wonder how Harry's going to react to Dumbledore – well, no actually I don't – I already know, hehe. It's just all you readers out there who have no idea what's in store. Right ahem, sorry. Anyway, what did you all think about the occlumency lesson? Do you think it was genuine enough and Harry and Snape seemed in character?

Just one last thing. This story has recently been accepted onto Fiction Alley (Schnoogle), and although it currently only has two chapters up there, they are without grammar and spelling errors, AND they have extra bits added in to make it flow better. Later chapters will even have added scenes. So, if anybody reads stories on Schnoogle, I would really appreciate if people read and review there too if they wanted! Thank you!! And please keep reading and reviewing here too, of course!!

As usual, thanks goes to **xxGinnyxx, nana-Hedwig, Numba1, Grahhamm, ?, Bellatrix013, Amber16, mrs-osbourne's-class**, and **rachel19 **for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Emma Victoria Arden: **My new favourite reviewer for this story!! Honestly, lol. I only keep on writing because I know there are actually people out there who read it. Anyway, yes, I'm also one of those people who loves to hate Snape. He's just got so many layers, and it's fun to expand out on his character, which I'll be doing later on in this story … much later on, that is. He can't change in one night. And I guess I did make Ron and Hermione a bit blatant last chapter, didn't I? I tried to keep it to JKR's discreet hints, but it was much more fun this way. I always got the impression that Harry knew about Ron's crush on Hermione, anyway. Oh, and it might take a while for Ron to finally admit anything, so you might have to be a bit patient. Uh next thing - Tonks lesson will definitely be interesting – next chapter though. Okay, well thanks again for reviewing. Also, I hope you liked the timetable and that on my yahoo group … if you read them!

**Alexis-Lee:** Lol, don't worry. I went through the same thing with a fifth year story and the real thing! Everything was a jumbled mess in my brain, he he. I'm glad you think it's believable though … really … because I want it to be as realistic as possible without seeming to copy lots from the other books. Also, I liked that Snape part too … if I managed to say it right. I realised after you reviewed I left out a word, lol. You might like more from this chapter as well – lots of Harry and Snape dialogue!! Thanks for reviewing!

**SPASH Panther: **Yeah, Harry was rather angry, but he has to let it all out before he can begin to grow up and put everything behind him, so to speak. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Prongs79: **Ah, I'm so sorry for not emailing you sooner, but I managed to get a beta reader as soon as I wrote the chapter. It would have been you if I had seen your review straight away, but ff.net was down for a few days. Again, I'm really sorry, and I hope you continue to read!

**Jac: **No, Ron and Hermione aren't going out … yet. Ron's too stubborn to realise it at the moment. Thanks for reviewing!

**dragonsprincess:** Yes, of course Snape could think of another less unpleasant way to set up occlumency lessons … but then again it wouldn't be Snape if he did, would it? And I think there is a slight possibility of Harry surprising himself **wink wink**. Lastly, about Dumbledore; you'll find out next chapter about him. Harry's going to have a little chat – just thought I'd give you another little hint. Anyway, thanks for reviewing again! Loved it!

**Aliba: **Hmm, that's what I thought too. I'll go back to it when I have the time. I'm currently revising the chapters anyway for Schnoogle.

**BlindJedi: **No problem, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. R/Hr, personally is my own preference, because of all the little hints JKR seems to write in her books. I also think that though someone may be more intelligent than their significant other, it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll grow bored of them. Ron has his own little talents and quirks … his imperfections might only make Hermione like him more, lol. Anyway, feel free to share your opinion more, and thanks for reviewing. I hope you keep on reading!

**Aragorn821:** Thank you so very much! I'm flattered! What you wrote in your review was exactly what I hoped people would see it as, so I'm definitely happy! Also, I am planning on writing a sequel to this book – I've already got ideas that will stem from this story. It's just a matter of finishing this story first, which might take a while, as you can see. I'm hoping for it to be a JKR length novel! I hope you stick around that long.

**Kateydidn't: **Thanks for your review! Especially coming from a talented author such as yourself!


	13. Something old, something borrowed and so...

**Title:** Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch (subject to change) 

**Author: **mony2208

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **'In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars' as Firenze said in Divination class, fifth year … In Harry Potter's 6th year, will this 'brief calm' end and the 2nd war finally begin? Will he have the power to become the murderer or the murdered? … All that can be said is Harry's sixth year proves to be his most difficult yet, with his connection with Voldemort growing stronger everybody and his worst nightmares haunting him at every turn. Ootp spoilers.****

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Forewords: **I really do have to apologise for the ungodly wait. I realise it's been over three months now, but as I've said in my lj and my ff.net bio, I have been severely ill and writing fanfiction has not been one of my top priorities. I can't make any promises, but the next one shouldn't be too long as I've just started a four week holiday break from uni.

Oh, and if anyone has gone back to my earlier chapters, you've probably noticed that I've changed the presentation of each chapter … but that's not all. As I have started posting the story on Schnoogle, I did actually change some of the content in each chapter. It isn't much, just some things I inconveniently left out the first time I updated these chapters to ff.net.

Also, this chapter will probably be reworked like all the others. I did piece this together quite quickly, so I'm sure I've left some things out that I initially intended to write … especially the chat between Harry and Dumbledore.

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**Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch**

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**Chapter Thirteen**

_Something old, something borrowed and something new_

Despite Harry's buzzing scar and the slow pace he was taking down the darkened hallways, he was standing in front of the stone gargoyle in almost no time at all.

Taking a deep breath as he stared blankly at the gargoyle, he told himself, "This is it," before muttering the password. "Nauseating nougats."

The gargoyle promptly shifted aside, and the wall split in two and opened up to reveal the familiar stone staircase. Harry reluctantly stepped up onto the moving staircase, not bothering to look over his shoulder as the wall thudded to a close behind him. He fidgeted a bit anxiously as the circular staircase ascended up to the gleaming oak door with its griffon knockers.

So many times had Harry seen that gleaming oak door, knocking on it, eavesdropping behind it. But at that moment, he'd rather be anywhere else than at that door, ready to knock, because being in that room would bring back painful memories of the day Sirius was taken away from him, of the day Harry would rather have died than go on living with that guilt.

Sighing again, Harry shook his head and raised an arm to rap on the door.

The door opened silently against his knock, and Harry heard Dumbledore's low voice calling him in. Hesitantly, Harry took a few steps in until he could see the entirety of Dumbledore's office. It wasn't without the usual gadgets and trinkets littering every shelf and table, but Harry couldn't help noticing with a small amount of guilt, how the amount of them had dwindled.

At Harry's arrival, Fawkes – who was on his usual golden perch, preening his feathers – immediately lifted his head to look at Harry, and let out a soft, and soothing trill that immediately alleviated some of Harry's fears and apprehensions. Harry couldn't help grinning at the presence of the magnificent bird and with a lighter heart his eyes roamed around the rest of the office, until eventually his eyes rested on the old man sitting expectantly behind his desk.

Harry sighed inwardly. He couldn't waste any more time. "You asked me to see you, sir?" he asked resignedly.

Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "Yes, Harry I did. Please take a seat."

Harry cautiously sat down on the edge of a chair, not wanting to get too comfortable just yet. He placed both hands in his lap and clasped them tightly. "What did you want to see me about?"

A sigh came from Dumbledore as he leant back on his chair and his intense blue eyes closed momentarily. He opened them again and fixed Harry with a sad expression on his face. "I know things have gone off on the wrong foot again, Harry." he said. "That's why I asked you to come around now. I believe that you would have a few things you would want to say to me."

Harry was silent for a moment; torn between what he wanted to say first. He finally decided on the most practical questions first.

"Why Occlumency with Snape again?" he asked shortly. "I know you think that the hatred I have for Snape is similar to that of Voldemort's – but y-you admitted to me a-after-" Harry swallowed, his eyes lowering as he played with the arm rest. "You said that it was a mistake to have Snape teach me. I thought you understood then. Wh– why didn't you want- why didn't you just teach me?"

"Oh, Harry," breathed Dumbledore, leaning back in his chair. Fawkes gave a mournful cry over by his perch. "It's not that I didn't want to teach you. You are very important to me-"

"As what?" Harry interrupted suddenly, sitting up straight. "As the only wizard with the power to kill Voldemort-"

"_No_." Dumbledore replied so vehemently that Fawkes and Harry both jumped. "No Harry. You are more than that. You have always been more than that. I care about you, about just Harry. I just wanted to protect you."

"If you cared about just me, then you wouldn't have sent me to the Dursleys and kept me there every year since." Harry cried, his voice steadily growing louder as he tried to look anywhere but at the Headmaster. "And if you cared about me you wouldn't have _ignored_ me for the better half of last year.

Harry continued on, a choked sob blocking his throat. "I – I know I haven't always told you every- everything going on in my life, but you didn't even give me the chance. The only person I could count on was Sirius – a- and he's gone. How do I know you won't just do what you did last year?"

Dumbledore looked down at his desk. "I know, Harry. I don't blame you for feeling like that, and for that I deeply apologise."

"Well what about you keeping everything from me?" Harry demanded, swallowing his anger. "I wanted to know what was going on before last summer. I asked Sirius and Remus and they couldn't tell me. Why didn't you just tell me then? I was ready, I could have handled it. I've handled everything else thrown at me. Didn't you say that to me after the Tournament? That I've handled more than an average wizard had and I was still able to come out of it alive?"

"Of course Harry. I could never discredit you for any of the things you've done."

"But why?" Harry pleaded desperately. "Please tell me why y_ou're still doing it! _You didn't bother telling me about Snape teaching me Occlumency. You sent me a _letter_."

"The vision you experienced the other night was extremely dangerous for you," said Dumbledore, looking very solemn. "Voldemort could have easily become aware of that link and exploited it for his own sadistic purposes. Remus contacted me immediately, and after deliberating on it for a while, I admit I had to make a quick decision. I would have told you in person about my decision to have Professor Snape teach you again, but the Order meeting was called last night and I was unable to."

That brought up something else that Harry had been wondering about. "I want to join the Order." he said simply.

"Oh Harry." sighed Dumbledore. "You know you can't. You have neither reached the legal age nor graduated from Hogwarts."

"And what?" Harry forced out through gritted teeth. "You think Voldemort's going to wait until I graduate before he attacks? He has no morals. If he can try and kill a one year old, you think he's going to care now if I am of legal age or not?"

"Harry, I promise I will not keep anything important from you anymore but I cannot allow you to join the Order." Dumbledore maintained rigidly. "It is much too risky at this stage, and I do not want these thoughts occupying your mind whilst you are still at school. I want you to worry about your schoolwork more than what Voldemort is planning."

"But I can't forget he's around," protested Harry. "My scar won't let me forget, and neither will that prophecy. I know that it will ultimately be me that has to kill him. How can that possibly escape my mind?"

The sheer desperation of this statement caused Fawkes to leave his perch and fly over to land on Harry's shoulder, all the while crooning gently. Harry gratefully stroked the phoenix as Dumbledore spoke again.

"That is why I did not tell you sooner." The headmaster admitted lamentably. "You would not have been able to cope with these same feelings any earlier. I am regretful that you even know now. It is a heavy burden on your shoulders, Harry. One that you should not feel is necessary."

Harry stopped his stroking to give Dumbledore an incredulous look. "But it _is_ necessary." he objected. "Voldemort's going to wage a war on the whole world if I don't do something to stop him, kill him."

"Listen to me Harry." Dumbledore said firmly, his blue eyes boring unrelentingly into Harry. "This war will not only count on you, Harry. There are many elements that depend on other players, so to speak."

"Like Sn- Professor Snape." Harry said, thinking hard. "You can find out what Voldemort's plans are through his spying."

Dumbledore nodded. "That is one."

"And Hagrid is another, right?" Harry guessed. "You wanted to try and bargain with all of Voldemort's old allies. Like the giants."

A small smile crept up onto Dumbledore's face and he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "For somebody not being informed of everything, you do know quite a bit, don't you?"

"Hagrid told us." Harry mumbled sheepishly, turning away to look at Fawkes again.

Dumbledore laughed. "I am not upset. Rather I am proud you have managed to gain so much information from the little that has been given to you."

"Hermione might have something to do with that." Harry admitted, hiding back a slight flush. He hadn't been expecting Dumbledore to praise him for anything. He didn't think he deserved any.

Going back to the situation on hand, Harry bit his lip as he pieced together everything Dumbledore had said, eventually asking, "So – when it all comes down to it, I won't be the only one in this war."

"No you won't be."

"But I'll still have to find a way to kill Voldemort." Harry pressed.

"Yes."

"Then can I – can I try and prepare for it? I was thinking about extra lessons –" Harry trailed off apprehensively, but was spurred on by Dumbledore's reassuring gaze. "Defence or duelling lessons with Tonks maybe?"

"I see that having such lessons will come to no harm." Dumbledore slowly acquiesced. "I will ask Tonks."

"Could I also continue with the DA?" Harry added hesitantly. "I know with Tonks as our DADA professor, it won't really be necessary, but-"

"But learning from a student such as yourself is more effective and you have already had many students coming up to ask you about it. Am I right in saying that?"

Harry nodded wordlessly.

"Do not despair." Dumbledore assured Harry. "I have already given my permission for Professor McGonagall to approach you with that. May I make one suggestion though?"

Harry nodded again.

"It might be more prudent to change the words behind those initials, hmm." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly.

Harry couldn't help himself; he laughed. "Defence Association okay?" he suggested, smiling.

Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. "Most certainly, Harry." He looked down at a rather unusual looking object on his desk and Harry watched as his expression turned to one of alarm. "Oh dear me." he exclaimed. "I do apologise for keeping you so late. You should be sleeping right now."

Harry took a look at his own trusty watch, which also agreed it was way past his bedtime. Harry raised from his seat without complaint and allowed Fawkes to fly off his shoulder and over to Dumbledore. He felt as though he'd gotten out as much as he could handle for one night, and he was absolutely bushed.

He headed for the door after a polite goodnight to the Headmaster.

"Harry?"

Harry turned around.

"Do not feel you no longer have anyone to talk to." Dumbledore said softly. "I am well aware there is an ex-professor with a certain mirror in his possession, and there is always me. I meant what I said before. I won't make that same mistake again."

"Thank you Professor." Harry said solemnly, his heart constricting momentarily. He turned back around, his hand twisting the door handle. It opened easily and Harry quietly exited the office.

Harry didn't remember much of the journey back to his dorm. The incessant pounding in his head made a re-entrance as he walked, so as soon as he reached his bed, and his head hit his pillow, Harry wasted no time in drifting off to sleep.

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The next morning at breakfast, Harry kept Dumbledore's meeting to himself, choosing only to give Ron and Hermione a brief description of his Occlumency lesson. Nevertheless, they seemed satisfied that he had confided in them, and Ron suggested they have a nice game of chess after classes had finished.

Harry had agreed with a wry grin, before finishing his breakfast hurriedly and following his friends to class. Their first DADA lesson with Tonks was first up and he, for once, was excited about going.

When the Gryffindor sixth years – all who had arrived early like Harry, Ron and Hermione - waited outside the Defence classroom, Tonks was already inside, repairing a student's chair with her wand. Why it was broken before any classes had begun, Harry didn't know, but with Tonks he had come to realise that nothing was unbreakable in her presence. She was truly a clutz, worse even than Neville.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, catching sight of the students outside. Harry swore she gave him a furtive wink. "Wotcher! Come in, come in." Tonks quickly ushered the class in and waited as everyone sat down. Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to snag tables at the front, Harry carefully avoiding the newly repaired chair. Just in case.

"Wotcher everyone!" Tonks said again, when everyone was ready and looking at her expectantly. "And welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. I've been told that you must call me Professor Tonks," Tonks face showed how much she liked that. "but outside of class, feel free to call me Tonks."

She casually leant onto her desk, spilling a pot of ink in the process. A quick wave of her wand cleaned it up and she grinned sheepishly. "Now, first things first, I'm an auror-"

"But you look so young!" Seamus gasped in awe. Harry had heard the boy earlier telling Dean how hot their new DADA professor was.

Tonks patted her still long brown hair self-consciously and flushed slightly. "It all depends on the look. See-" And here Tonks face took on a concentrated look.

Suddenly, at a remarkably fast pace, her hair simultaneously shortened and changed into a light grey. Her nose also grew elongated and wrinkles began to appear all over her face.

Seamus gasped, not the only one in the class who looked utterly horrified. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione remained unperturbed at the familiar scene, smiling faintly.

"See," Tonks continued on smugly, looking like a shrivelled old lady. "Age has nothing to do with my looks."

With that, Tonks resumed a short gold and red hairdo, and her youthful grin. "Of course, I am actually young, as Mr-"

It took a while for Seamus to answer before he stuttered, "Finnigan." He shook his head for a moment before asking, "What are you?"

"A Metamorphagus." Tonks replied promptly, causing more gasps, but this time in awe. "I can morph, so to speak, any parts of my body into partaking different features."

"That is so cool." Lavender breathed, looking awestruck. Harry saw her nudge Parvati and then heard her whisper in her ear, "Imagine being able to morph away my nose."

"Yes, this is quite a useful gift." Tonks admitted, "Certainly makes up for my clumsiness."

The class seemed unsure whether or not to laugh, but Harry and Ron had no such restraint and snickered to themselves.

"Now," Tonks said briskly, bringing attention back to the lesson. "I'm going to put you in random pairs to see what kind of defence spells you use instinctively." Tonks looked around the class, frowning slightly. Eventually she pointed her wand toward Ron and Hermione. "Okay, how about Mr Weasley and Miss Granger go together … you and – you-" Here she pointed to Seamus and Dean. "Mr Potter you can go with – oops sorry." For here Tonks pointed her wand a bit aggressively at poor Neville Longbottom and sparks flew out of her wand and onto his desk, almost sizzling his hands.

"That's Neville Longbottom." Harry supplied for Tonks, who clearly couldn't remember any of the names she had been given.

"Right, Neville – I mean Longbo- _Mr_ Longbottom." She stopped, frustrated and added simply. "No, you know what. Screw what McGonagall said, I'm calling you by your first names."

The class laughed and then Tonks added rather bashfully, "Don't go telling her I said that though, mind."

She stopped again and looked around at the class. "Okay, well Harry you go with Neville. Umm and you two girls can go together. What's your names' again? Peach and Pavlova?"

"Lavender and Parvati." The two girls chorused quickly, both girls looking rather put-off.

Tonks gave a sheepish grin. "It seems I have a bit of an affinity to food" she said, shrugging in apology, then turned back to the class. "Okay, Lavender and Parvati. That seems to be everyone." She clapped her hands. "So get into your pairs." ****

"Now first of all, what spells have you learnt?" Tonks asked as everybody stood next to their assigned partner; Harry giving Neville a sideways grin.

As usual, Hermione raised her hand first, but for once, she wasn't the only one. Almost everybody raised their hand, including Harry.

Tonks eventually picked Neville who had a timid hand up.

Neville lowered his hand and flicking his eyes toward Harry, he listed off all the things they'd learnt in the DA.

"Well," Tonks said after Neville had finished. "That's quite a lot. No doubt none of those came from that toad's class."

"No," Neville replied nervously. He probably thought it mightn't be a good idea to "It was from something else."

"Like Harry's little DA class I bet." Tonks said, grinning. The class stopped to look at her in amazement. "Yes, I've heard about your little extracurricular group. Don't all look at me like I've sprouted another head. All the staff at Hogwarts know about _Dumbledore's Army_."

Much of the class giggled at that.

Tonks continued on, "And I know how useful that class was for you lot. None of you failed, most achieving an average of Exceeding Expectations, if not Outstanding, I might add."

Harry wasn't aware of that little piece of information and he shared a surprising glance with Hermione and Ron, before focusing his attention back on the energetic Professor, who had just tripped over Dean's school bag.

Clumsiness aside, Tonks spent the rest of the lesson having the assigned partners going through duelling manoeuvres with the spells and curses they had already learnt. It was hard work and Harry exited the classroom with a considerable more amount of bumps and bruises than he had going in.

Nevertheless, it was refreshing to actually do something useful in that class, and along with Neville's drastic improvement, and a quick confirmation from Tonks to start some after class Defence lessons, Harry was also happily reminded of the time Remus had taught that very same class.

Smiling to himself, Harry chatted to his friends as they made their way to their next class.

**

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**

After lunch, Harry and Ron parted from Hermione and headed off outside, towards Hagrid's hut. Hagrid greeted them with a grin before turning to the class that had settled in front of him.

"Welcome ter sixth year Care of Magical Creatures." Hagrid boomed. "This year's goin' ter count towards yeh NEWT's, so I don't need no any o'yeh's to muck about or else I'll fail yeh."

Hagrid looked at the few remaining Slytherins in the class as he said that, but then turned back to the rest of the class. "Now I got a special treat for yeh all today."

The majority of the class tittered in unease. When it came to Hagrid introducing their new projects, no matter how much Harry liked Hagrid, even _he'd_ still be nervous.

Luckily it seemed it wasn't going to be one of those Blast Ended Screwt kind of projects, because when Hagrid announced the magical animal they would be taking care of for the next few weeks – the Diricawl - Ron slumped in relief beside Harry and a collective sigh was heard from a few other students.

"Not dangerous?" Harry guessed softly.

Ron nodded, before the two boys resumed listening to Hagrid's conversation.

"Now Diricawl's aren't the bravest of creatures." Hagrid was saying. "Any loud noises or unexpected movements can cause 'em to vanish in a burst of feathers."

There was a loud murmuring from the class at that, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other.

"Muggles have their own name fer them. Think it's dodo bird or somethin'." Hagrid scratched his enormous beard for a few moments in thought and then shrugged. "Anyway, I managed ter catch a few and have them penned up behind me hut here. Follow me, and be quiet." With that said, Hagrid motioned for them to stay quiet with one large finger, and follow him around the corner.

Harry and Ron fell into step behind Hagrid, and Harry looked over his shoulder to see the rest of the class following suit. Malfoy's two goons looked lost without Malfoy – who, like Hermione had continued on with Arithmancy instead - and they ambled on around the back of the group.

"Can't believe Malfoy's dropped this class." Ron whispered gleefully, looking at the two brutes as well. "No potions, no Care of Magical Creatures with Malfoy – I'd say this year has started out pretty good for me."

"Lucky you." Harry murmured sarcastically under his breath as they walked. He knew it was a bit petty, but Ron needn't rub his great luck in Harry's face. Harry was having a bad enough time as it was.

"Here we are." Hagrid whispered deeply when they all walked around to the back of his hut. Like the rest of the class, Harry immediately latched his eyes onto the dozen or so small pens in one corner of the yard.

Each pen held one diricawl in it - pecking away at the ground - but it was easily large enough to fit more than that.

"I put them in separate pens for th' lesson." Hagrid explained softly, waving his arm around. "Don't get so scared then."

He walked up the pens, his feet making thumping noises on the ground. The diricawls started only slightly at the sound, but seemed used to the lumbering half-giant, and resumed their hunting for worms.

Harry looked on curiously. Diricawls had to be one of the most unusual birds he had ever seen. They looked a mixture of a chicken mated with an ostrich – or something of the sort. They had large, rounded beaks, small stubby wings that were undoubtedly not suited to flying, and a rather plump sort of body. All in all, they looked rather stupid and soon the class were sniggering under their breaths.

"They're pretty strong and bulky, but Diricawls aren't the cleverest of birds," Hagrid explained as he threw in a bucket of worms into one pen. The Diricawl quickly scampered over and began pecking with its beak. "otherwise they would have thought ter vanish out of the pen, even when not in danger."

"Reminds me of some people I know," Ron mumbled, looking over at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Now who wants ter try approachin' one?" Hagrid asked with a grin. He seemed happy that the class weren't complaining about them yet. "They won't bite."

As usual, the Slytherins all backed away; none wanting to show any interest in the class. The Gryffindors were just as bad. Ron didn't move a muscle.

Eventually, Harry sighed, and stepped forward. It was getting rather predictable now for him to volunteer first – and rather tiring.

"I will." he said, looking at Hagrid.

"Good," Hagrid looked back, pleased. "You can come o'er ter Phyllis here."

Harry looked back at Ron momentarily - lifting his eyebrows up at the name Hagrid had picked – before turning back to Phyllis.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do?" Harry asked quietly, watching as Phyllis took a nervous step back at his presence.

"You can give it a feed," said Hagrid, "then if she lets yer, open the latch ter th' pen, walk inside and give her a pat."

Slowly, Harry did as he was asked, sprinkling all sorts of small insects into the grass that covered the pen floor. Phyllis automatically began foraging for the insects, all attention on Harry quickly forgotten. Looking back at Hagrid who shrugged, Harry flipped the latch onto the pen as quietly as possible, before tiptoeing inside and up to the large bird.

For something that Ron didn't consider dangerous, Harry was quite alarmed to see up close the sharp talons on the diricawl's feet, and the curved, rather pointed beak. He forced back a gulp as he extended his hand to the still eating bird, taking care to keep it well away from the beak.

His hand inched closer and closer to the feathers until it wavered just above Phyllis's back. He waited anxiously for any sort of a response, either positive or negative, and when he didn't, Harry cautiously laid his hand on the bird's back and gently began to stroke it. Phyllis made a low keening sound at the back of her throat, but continued to eat.

Harry relaxed, and stroked the bird for a few more moments before he backed away and came back out to where the rest of the class were waiting.

Hagrid was beaming. "Well done, Harry," he said. "No harm done – just like I said. Now, let's spread out and find one ter look after yourselves."

Harry rejoined Ron.

"Good thing Hermione helped him to work out how to make a class plan." he said softly. "Otherwise I'm sure Hagrid would've tried to get as many illegal creatures he possibly could for this year."

Ron agreed and went to introduce himself to Phyllis, whilst Harry watched on. Like Harry, Ron had no trouble, and as Ron apprehensively patted Phyllis, Harry then flicked his gaze over to the rest of the class. Thankfully nobody, including the Slytherins, seemed to be having any problems at all with the dumb birds, which was a relief. After being put on probation last year, Hagrid really didn't need any more mishaps in class.

However, Harry thought too soon. As Lavender went to approach her diricawl, she accidentally tripped over a fallen branch and squeaked loudly as she landed on the ground. This started a chain of reaction and the diricawl closest to her squawked loudly and flapped its wings before disappearing in the cloud of feathers that Hagrid had explained about. Lavender looked shocked as another followed and her bucket of insects dropped unnoticed onto the ground.

"Ah," said Hagrid, looking, like the rest of the class, at the pile of feathers the two diricawls had left behind. "Ne'er mind. Plenty more for yer to look at. Come along Miss Brown."

Lavender, still looking shaken joined up with Parvati, but apart from another diricawl vanishing – courtesy of Crabbe, who stepped on its foot – the class proceeded along relatively well by Hagrid's standards. Harry was even finding the lesson enjoyable, his and Ron's diricawl, Phyllis quite the comedian. At one time Phyllis had even seemed to want to change diets and began to nibble on Ron's robe.

"Stop it, you great ugly brute." Ron had complained, trying to yank his robe out of Phyllis's beak. After a fierce battle, he had eventually succeeded, but there were half-eaten insects stuck to it. Harry had laughed at the disgusted look on Ron's face as he gingerly picked off the insects.

After that, the bell rang in no time at all, and the class slowly exited the pen for their next lesson. Both having a free period, Harry and Ron stayed behind a bit longer to help Hagrid clean up.

Hagrid closed off the last pen. "It's time to see yer present, Harry." said Hagrid, looking absolutely thrilled.

Ron, obviously aware of what kind of presents Hagrid was capable of giving, quickly excused himself and told Harry that'd he catch up with Hermione - who also had a free period - before meeting back up with him a bit later on.

"Don't forget yer welcome to come and see me anytime Ron," Hagrid said as Ron went to walk away. "Tell Miss Hermione that though she ain't in my class anymore, I'd love ter see her too."

Ron smiled and nodded, waving as he quickly walked up to the castle.

Hagrid turned to Harry who resumed wracking his brain, trying to come up with a probable present. He really hoped it wasn't anything illegal, but it _was_ Hagrid that was giving him the present, so he couldn't be sure.

"Now that we're all alone, I can show yer my present for yeh." said Hagrid, already starting to take giant strides. Harry noticed he was heading for where the dragon enclosure for the First Task had been, and he hurried to catch up. "It's not too far a walk."

Harry silently followed Hagrid, getting more worried by each step he made. It wasn't helped as something slowly began to emerge along the horizon; something large and quite high, with a thick cloud of smoke billowing over it. What could Hagrid have for him that was all the way out there, Harry asked himself, squinting his eyes over to that heap.

It wasn't until Harry was face to face with that heap did he realise what it was; a reasonably large bonfire, crackling away happily. It did nothing to assuage Harry's fears and he looked at it suspiciously. What on earth was Hagrid up to?

"'Ere yer go, Harry," Hagrid announced happily, oblivious to Harry's apprehension. "I thought yer might like some extra companionship this year."

Harry, who was yet to see anything except the mounds of logs and burning charcoal in the fire, asked hesitantly, "Where is it?"

Hagrid pointed an enormous finger at the fire. "_Why_ it's in the fire, Harry."

"I don't have to go - in there, do I?" Harry asked, peering nervously at the fire. He was over ten feet away from the fire and he could feel the almost intolerable heat stinging his bare face. There was no way he was moving any closer.

There was a loud booming laugh, and Harry was almost pitched into the fire when Hagrid gave him a hearty pat on the back.

"No, 'course not, but I expect you'll find out if yer just listen carefully."

Frowning slightly, Harry did what Hagrid had asked. He strained his ears, listening for any unusual or out of place sounds. At first, Harry could only hear the crackles of the fire as the firewood and charcoal burnt slowly, but then he began to hear a soft, sibilant voice coming from the fire, as though it really _was_ in the fire.

"… nice and warm, we is, my babies and I …"

Harry's face must have shown his confusion as he continued to listen to the voice, because Hagrid laughed again. "I knew yeh'd hear her."

"Her?"

"They're a little family of ashwinder snakes." Hagrid answered, looking at the bonfire proudly. "A mum and her eggs. See usually, ashwinder snakes only live long enough out of their fire ter lay their eggs, but a friend of mine see, who used ter live in Hawaii, managed to cross-breed an ashwinder with a muggle type snake. A boa constructor I think, so 'ere we have a snake that can thrive both in and out of fire, and live longer – Ah, here we are."

Harry watched in amazement as the snake he had heard talking suddenly materialised from underneath a large piece of wood. It was a beautiful and fiery-looking snake; well camouflaged with her dark red and black scales. Harry caught a flash of pink as a long, sleek tongue poked out of a fanged mouth.

"Giant man keepssss good care for ussss," the snake hissed, flicking her tongue out again as she circled Hagrid's feet. Hagrid plunged a hand into his pocket and brought out a dead mice, which he threw at the snake. She gobbled it up whole, before flicking her tongue an third time. "I likesss him."

Harry watched on, amazed, and found himself stuck on the spot as the snake coiled around Hagrid's ankles.

"Well, go on then. Say somethin' ter her." Hagrid prodded eagerly, unperturbed that the snake was burning a slight hole in his pants legs.

Unsure of what to say, Harry took a cautious step forward and settled for an awkward – if snakes can talk awkwardly that is - "Hello." He hadn't tried using Parseltongue since opening the Chamber of Secrets in second year, so he was a bit out of practice. He wasn't even sure if it would even come out properly.

It seemed to work though. The snake immediately stopped and its head turned appraisingly until it caught Harry's eyes.

"You speak my tongue, young boy?" it asked in amazement.

"Uh, yes." Harry answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable under the snake's scrutiny. It was the first time he'd had a real conversation with a snake, other than the one in the zoo, and he wasn't exactly sure on any snake etiquette or anything.

"I have not ever talked to one of your kind before." The snake hissed, uncoiling itself from Hagrid, and slithering back to the ground.

She then moved over to Harry who didn't get a chance to voice a protest as the snake began to coil around Harry's legs. To his surprise, instead of being burnt, the snake was pleasantly warm and sent a surge of tingling heat up his spine.

Not knowing what else to do, he allowed the snake to continue its journey up his body, her long, sleek body curling around his torso.

When the snake reached Harry's shoulder, the snake finally stopped and hissed into Harry's ear.

"My name is Asis," she said, "and I come from the volcanoes in what your kind call Hawaii … but I likes it better here with the man-giant."

"My name is Harry," Harry supplied, tentatively touching the scaly skin of Asis with one finger. Asis hissed her approval and leaned eagerly into the touch. Harry smiled, his fingers continuing their movements.

"Are you going to stay here with me, Harry?" Asis asked.

Harry thought for a minute before answering, "I go to school here at this castle, so I won't be able to stay with you, but I can come see you sometimes, if you like?"

"I would like that, Harry." Asis replied calmly. "I gets lonely here sometimes, with just my babies and I."

"Your babies?" Harry asked politely.

"Yes." Asis replied. "I have many babies, but none ready for hatching."

She seemed a bit sad at that and Harry stroked her again. "I get lonely too sometimes." he admitted, then had another thought. "You're welcome to come visit me up in the castle with Hagrid – the man-giant, if you like."

It would probably send half the school in hysterics, including Ron, but Harry couldn't care less what other people thought anymore. Not after the events of the last year.

He was brought out of his dark thoughts as Asis's tongue flicked his ear. "Thank you Harry … I likes talking to you."

Harry felt a warmth swelling in his chest and he smiled. "Me too, Asis."

If snakes could smile, Harry was sure Asis was doing it at that moment. Her mouth was bared open, revealing her fangs and that forked tongue again. "I must get back to my babies now. Can you put me down?"

Harry nodded and gently extricated his shoulders from her tight grip. Then, just as gently, he lowered her onto the ground. She flicked her tail in response.

"Thanks."

"Bye," Harry called out as Asis retreated back into the fire.

When Harry turned back to Hagrid, he found Hagrid beaming proudly again.

"A snake?" Harry enquired, not nastily. In fact, his mood had lightened even more at having a chance to talk to Asis. Like that snake he had talked to at the zoo that time, it was rather relaxing and rewarding talking to her. She didn't seem evil, even though she was a snake, and she certainly didn't have any expectations of him. It would be nice to talk to her.

Hagrid shrugged his massive shoulders. "Thought yer might like someone ter talk to, and seeing as yeh have this gift an' all, why waste the chance?"

A slow grin spread across Harry's face. It was the first time someone was calling his parseltongue ability a gift, rather than a curse … and he liked it. "Thanks Hagrid, really. It'll be great having a chat with her."

As they walked back into his hut, he added. "By the way, her name's Asis, and she seems to like you a lot. Better than at her old home."

A pallid flush appeared on Hagrid's face and he threw a careless hand around. "That's nonsense, that." But he looked plenty pleased about it for a while as he busied himself with filling the teapot. "Fancy a cuppa with me, Harry?"

"Oh no," Harry said, realising the time. The last lesson was almost over. "I promised to pop into the castle and meet up with Ron and Hermione."

"Say 'ello to Hermione too, will yeh Harry?" Hagrid asked as Harry stood up and headed for the door, "Don't want her feelin' bad at not bein' in my class anymore."

"Will do," Harry nodded, heading for the door. "Catch y'later, Hagrid."

**

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**

**A/N:** This was an extremely long chapter, (6,000) so I hope it's enough to tide you over until the next update.

At first I was going to have Harry getting a pet snake, like a runespoor, but after reading sooo many fics where he has one, I decided to use a variation of the 'ashwinder snake'. What do you all think about my choice for Hagrid's present? I mean do you think that's the sort of animal that Hagrid would bring for Harry? You know, cross-breeding and all.

And by the way, what did you think about Hagrid's accent? Was it genuine enough? Not too much? I know it gets annoying when people write Hagrid's speech like he can't say one word right.

Ah well. Like it? Hate it? Please tell me in a review!

As usual, thanks goes to **SPASH Panther, sour-peach, john, jac, Lily and James Potter, LunaLovegood61, Serpent of Light Bellatrix013, Avvy Kavvy,** ****

**Magical Myth** and **Snake's wing** for reviewing.

And an extended thanks to:

**Emma Victoria Arden: **Thanks for another great and long review! I luv 'em! Anyway … yeah, I liked writing the last couple of chapters, seeing as Snape was a major player in them. Tonks is a great character to write too. Her first lesson is this chapter, so you'll get to see how the klutz ahem I mean auror goes, lol. And to set your mind at ease before you read on, no, Dumbledore doesn't have any bad news for Harry. (It took me ages to write the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore this chapter, though – he is a great character, but he's sooo hard to write)

**Nana-hedwig: **Lol, me too! Can't get enough of them! About Snape's behaviour though … I think after what happened with Snape's pensieve last year, any tolerance Snape had for Harry would be completely wiped from his mind now. Its obvious that Snape has a little problem with holding grudges a wee bit, so in my personal opinion, I think it's going to take drastic measures for Snape to lighten up on Harry … and perhaps you'll be seeing these drastic measures later on, he he. Thanks for reviewing again!

**Antagonist Len: **Yay, a new reader! Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you like it so far. Oh and Mark Evans' existence in this story is still being decided ... At the moment, he is merely a boy from Harry's neighbourhood. Later, though? I'm not quite sure … but I won't be focusing too much on it. There'll be plenty of other things to worry about!.

**Dragonsprincess:** Lol … but who wouldn't want to see Snape explode? He he – Nah, that was a typo. You were right. Thanks for telling me. I probably wouldn't have noticed it otherwise. And by the way I am reallyverysorry for not updating for such a long time.

**Expecto Patronum0:** Blushes, thanks for your review!! It's great to hear from a new reader! Oh and as for Snape and Harry accepting each other, that won't be happening for a long time … I'm trying to keep them in character as much as possible, having them gradually change as they learn more about each other, rather than poof and Harry and Snape are best friends, lol.__

**Kyntor: **I definitely agree that there needs to be more interaction between Harry and Dumbledore. But the thing is, their little meeting in Chapter Four was not even a smidgeon of what Harry is keeping inside. It's just at that point of the story, Harry was more thinking about the consequences of his own actions. He was feelingashamed, guilty and really in quite a self-pitiful mood. So having Dumbledore privately seeking him out and keeping his auror hopes alive wasn't exactly the right time to sprout out how unfair Dumbledore's been acting towards him. It's only now that Dumbledore seems to be repeating his actions from last year that Harry's not going to hold back this time around. So I hope you have stuck around long enough to read this chapter, because you'll have perhaps seen what I meant.__

**TJ:** I am planning on Harry having private lessons with Tonks … but there will be other people joining in from time to time (I won't tell you who though, don't want to spoil anything yet, lol). Also, thanks for the offer to be a beta reader … unfortunately, I have one already!! Sorry about that.__

**Aliba: **Lol, yeah, poor Harry. Snape always loves antagonising him and unfortunately that won't be changing for a while. Snape doesn't quite know how to let grudges go yet. And thanks for your second comment. I really detest poor grammar and spelling as well, so I didn't want to make the same mistake other authors have made. It really did take a while editing each and every chapter though. I mean I obviously had a beta reader for much of it, but I also spent ages adding and changing a few things to fit the story more, etc, etc. That also includes that little section where Harry and Mark talked a few chapters ago. I remember you saying something about it not quite fitting so I did change it slightly. If you have the time, can you tell me what ya think? Lastly, I did want to thank you for adding me to your favourites list. It really does mean a lot for somebody to tell me that! So thanks! And feel free to harass me anytime on updating chapters. It keeps me motivated to write, especially as of late, where I've been really sick and miserable.

**Prongs79:**Lol, glad to hear. Thanks for reviewing!****

**Claire:** You probably won't find that particular little tidbit out until perhaps the Christmas holidays, which as you can probably realise is quite a while away. Sorry bout that, but at least I know it will keep you on your toes waiting for each new chapter ;)

**Jack Robinson: **First of all I do have to say thank you for reviewing so many chapters (of all my stories)!! It was refreshing to read each and every one and I am so glad that you have enjoyed all of them so far. I'll try and respond to everything you said, but be prepared for a long response ;). Anyway, uh you were actually the first to point out the link between both stories (I think), so thanks for noticing! As for Mark Evans, I'm not sure what I'll be doing with him at the moment. I'm still torn between making him a blood relative to Harry, and not, but for now I reckon I won't have him as a really important character. Now onto your comment on R/H. I am hoping R/H will happen in the sixth book. I know a lot of people still hold out on H/H, but with all the blatant hints in the previous five books, I really do think R/H will happen something like what I am planning, so I'm glad you agree. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. I hope you continue to read on!****

**Kathryn the Great 787: **That's okay, I haven't been updating lately, lol. Thanks for reviewing anyway - I'm relieved that after 12 chapters I haven't yet lost that extra touch I was hoping was similar to JKR's style. It is quite hard to maintain that style; so many fics I've read eventually dwindle out and all the characters, plot, etc, etc, end up ooc.****


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